35 Years of Not Painting

Art Exhibit Reception

Opening reception for 35 Years of Not Painting, by Jessica Smith. Exhibit runs from May 11–June 21.

Artist's Statement
Jessica Smith is a self-taught portrait artist and an enrolled citizen of Cherokee Nation. She began painting at the age of 40 after decades spent working a myriad of jobs and raising her five kids. Since she began painting, she has completed more than 200 portraits, many now in private collections.

Artist's Bio
When I was five, I had a book by Dr. Seuss called “All About Me,” a fill-inthe-blank book that I scrawled in red crayon. I wrote that when I grew up I was going to be an artist. I spent the next 35 years not being an artist at all.

When lockdown happened there was so much time to fill, everybody started baking sourdough bread. I considered it, but it sounded difficult and also gross. I decided to paint my favorite author. I had no formal art training and knew it was very unlikely that I was going to be any good at painting. How could I be? But, I had love for my subject on my side. My first portrait was of Richard Brautigan. I could tell it was him. I put a picture of my painting on Instagram and his daughter saw it and complimented it. That gave me the courage to try painting another portrait.

That portrait was of Townes Van Zandt. I posted it online and someone immediately bought it. “This is crazy,” I thought, and painted another. Then another. I’ve now painted 200 portraits and most of them have found their way to people who love them. Clearly, I was supposed to be doing this all along. How did 5 year old me know what 40 year old me had to discover? I want this show to be your sign that it is not too late to pursue the dreams of five year old you. When you’re guided by love and inspired to create, the results will always be beautiful

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