Murals

I have big dreams to create murals, my friend. Big dreams. So what are you doing about it, you may ask? Well... I created a mural in my own room when I was about 16. It was a fun and fancy free experience. I thoroughly enjoyed expressing myself on my walls. Now that I look back, my parents were super generous and trusting to allow me that kind of licence. I will not show pictures lest you, dear reader, lose confidence in my artistic ability and sense. (You know some people like me for my body...of text. Ha!)

Anyway, since my parents won't inhabit their home forever (even though I wish they would), I have decided to redo my mural. They have again given me artistic licence. So trusting, I know. Most parents don't appreciate their children's additions to their walls. Unlike some children, I am hoping to improve any interest buyers may have in their home. My parents may appreciate my 16 year old artistic expressions, but I'm pretty sure most home buyers... Let's just say the current mural would narrow the potential buyers list considerably.

The Gift of Patronage

Now, I have mentioned a kind of awe and surprise that my parents have allowed me to do this. Twice! But I must express my extreme gratitude. Artistic patronage is essential to success in the arts. If you take a gander through art history, successful artists are successful because they had patrons! Michelangelo and Leonardo wouldn't have gone far without people like the Pope and the house of Medici. I can go even farther to say that anyone in any field needs a patron. Someone who takes them on and says, "I know you and have confidence in your abilities--please, have this job." In the job arena, I keep hearing that the key really is who you know.

I haven't had huge examples of patronage in my life like Leonardo or Michelangelo. But I have had enough. My brother Darren was always a very attentive listener as I showed him my sketches and artwork and blabbed on and on about them. My art teacher in middle school was very encouraging. She entered me into competitions and took me aside during art class to give me tips and tricks to push me harder. I felt flattered that she thought I was worth giving extra attention.

Also, my parents have shown extreme trust in and patronage for my artistic abilities. While I am not making bank from my artistic endeavors, I have had little successes so far and can see great potential for even more. For example, once this mural is complete, I will have an excellent showroom of what I can do. Hopefully, this attracts people to use my abilities on their walls.

What is my current plan for my mural? I plan to minimize my suffering and the suffering of everyone else in the household by 1st gathering my materials, 2nd move everything from the room or drape covers, and then begin painting. I can liken this style to a graceful cook. Graceful cooks cut all their vegetables first, gather their materials, and then they turn on the stove. I'm ashamed to say that most of the time I'm gathering my ingredients while the onions are sizzling. It's not exactly that I love that smoked flavor, it's just that I've not reached that 'graceful cook' status yet. I plan to go against my cooking nature for this mural. Smart, huh?

You can expect pictures of my progress in the near future.

Food Art

One of the many ways we bring joy into our home is by playing with our food. Ehem. I mean creating food art.

Food art can be as simple as you want it. Today I gave my son a graham cracker and he was constantly saying, "Mom, Look! It's a remote control!" He pretends to push buttons and look at a screen. "Mom, Look! I made a T! Like your name!" He proceeds to create multiple letters and numbers--asking me to look each time. Then he created something else. "Mom, Look!" He looks down to re-shift a cracker. "It's a Star Wars thingy!" I bit my lip and squinted. Sure enough, there was an X-wing. See? Easy-peasy.

Here are some examples of our past food art fun.

May I introduce our Chef. Round of applause, please.

Keep your eyes peeled, alright? We not only decorated these eggs, but we "egged" a bunch of people's houses with these. We just left them on their porch. Much cleaner and considerate, I think.

Radishes, radishes--barely even human!!
(It's an altered version of a song from Disney's Pocahontas I sing every time I see radishes or sandwiches. I do that, OK?) 

Buddha made of Wheat Thin paste.

Summer Squash Penguin

Who are the A[R+T]Smiths?

Welcome, dear reader, to our humble website. My husband, Rick, and I are passionate creators of anything creative. We both love to write, paint, sketch, sing, and play violin and piano. I am branching out to learn guitar so we don't seem quite so twin-ish. We feel that art and creating adds spice and pizzazz to life. Some examples of ways we do that will be coming in future posts. We hope to add beauty to the world and inspire you to do the same.

Besides inspiring creativity, we have big dreams for our business. We plan to expand the arts in families and our community. Someday we will build an event center for the arts in which we host unique birthday parties, date nights and workshops for young and old.

In addition to traditional fine arts commissions, we provide non-traditional fine art commissions like murals, book illustrations, profiles, logo design, photography, and wedding announcements. Please support our project by sharing, commissioning, or donating so we can enrich families and the community with the arts!