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Favorite Artist = Banksy, by Daniel Silk on Aug 4, 2006 11:52:58 GMT 1, www.shreveporttimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060803/ENT/608030352/1005
Exposure: Many media are fair game for artist's canvas
August 3, 2006
By Jennifer Flowers
jenniferflowers@gannett.com
No medium is too strange for the canvas of Lisa Smith.
The artist works in oil but also loves collage and word plays. She also periodically raids her mother's sewing basket for beads, buttons and unusual fabrics.
Smith, 42, graduated with a fine arts degree from LSU in Baton Rouge. She is a fourth-, fifth- and sixth-grade teacher at Montessori School for Shreveport.
The Louisiana native participates in Montessori School's annual springtime art auction and recently donated a piece to a benefit for Scott Griffin, a local artist who is struggling with cancer. She also has exhibited her works at artspace in downtown Shreveport.
Smith lives in Shreveport with her husband, Dragan Kuzmanov, and their 11-year-old daughter, Staveley Kuzmanov.
QUESTION: How do you like teaching?
ANSWER: Teaching is fun. It's very exhausting, but I kind of compare it to going to a party every day with 24 people.
Q: Does your job influence your work?
A: Definitely. Kids' conversations are kind of like free form. And you really do kind of relive your youth when you teach, especially the grades I teach because they are coming in as 9-year-olds and they leave as 11- or 12-year-olds. You get to see them change from childhood to preadolescence and it can be pretty dramatic.
Q: How would you describe your work?
A: I would say that my paintings are light collages in that I kind of cherry pick elements to put in. It's kind of the same process as making a collage just on paper, cutting out things and putting them down. And I love collage. Collage is probably one of the first art experiences children have, just cutting up things and gluing them down with Elmer's.
Q: On average, how many paintings do you produce?
A: Try to do two a year because the way that I paint is pretty time-consuming. I go in and I block everything out with big shapes of light and shadow, and then I go back and really add a lot of detail, highlights, lowlights, that type of thing. Then I do the final touchup phase, so, really, I'm painting everything three times.
Q: How do you put a piece together?
A: Just a lot of vintage ephemera, vintage buttons, any kind of scraps that I find. I try to find catch phrases that just stick in my head and try to incorporate that into the visual stuff. Like the piece that I donated to Scott Griffin's benefit, I knew I wanted to do something medical but not like cancer sucks or anything like that.
So I kind of skirted the edge. It's just a bag and it has a picture of an anatomically correct heart. The catch phrase is open wounds from the cutting edge.
Q: What do you like to paint?
A: I really love painting portraits and I really gravitate toward costumes from the '50s. Clothes back then were just really constructed to the nth degree and there's a lot of details that you can put in. And the hairdos were really sculptural, the way they had all the pin curls and the waves and that type of thing. That's fun to paint.
Q: Would you say your work has a message?
A: I hope it's uplifting. It would be really easy to get really, really political. One of my favorite artists is a British artist named Banksy, and he has an amazing Web site. He's a graffiti artist, very political. He uses really strong images and phrases just to catch people's imagination. His latest work was going to the wall that Israel was erecting and going to the Palestinian side and doing these fantasy scenes on it.
Q: What deters you from political themes?
A: I just really wish that somebody would come along who is ready to get people together instead of splitting them. I feel like this country is just fifty-fifty. I think that if you go through your day, you probably know people who are Democrats or Republicans that you really like a lot, but the politicians and certain news media will just have you think that they're the enemy whoever they are, and I wouldn't want to be a part of that. I just think it's time people kind of accepted each others' differences and stopped the madness.
www.shreveporttimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060803/ENT/608030352/1005Exposure: Many media are fair game for artist's canvas August 3, 2006 By Jennifer Flowers jenniferflowers@gannett.com No medium is too strange for the canvas of Lisa Smith. The artist works in oil but also loves collage and word plays. She also periodically raids her mother's sewing basket for beads, buttons and unusual fabrics. Smith, 42, graduated with a fine arts degree from LSU in Baton Rouge. She is a fourth-, fifth- and sixth-grade teacher at Montessori School for Shreveport. The Louisiana native participates in Montessori School's annual springtime art auction and recently donated a piece to a benefit for Scott Griffin, a local artist who is struggling with cancer. She also has exhibited her works at artspace in downtown Shreveport. Smith lives in Shreveport with her husband, Dragan Kuzmanov, and their 11-year-old daughter, Staveley Kuzmanov. QUESTION: How do you like teaching? ANSWER: Teaching is fun. It's very exhausting, but I kind of compare it to going to a party every day with 24 people. Q: Does your job influence your work? A: Definitely. Kids' conversations are kind of like free form. And you really do kind of relive your youth when you teach, especially the grades I teach because they are coming in as 9-year-olds and they leave as 11- or 12-year-olds. You get to see them change from childhood to preadolescence and it can be pretty dramatic. Q: How would you describe your work? A: I would say that my paintings are light collages in that I kind of cherry pick elements to put in. It's kind of the same process as making a collage just on paper, cutting out things and putting them down. And I love collage. Collage is probably one of the first art experiences children have, just cutting up things and gluing them down with Elmer's. Q: On average, how many paintings do you produce? A: Try to do two a year because the way that I paint is pretty time-consuming. I go in and I block everything out with big shapes of light and shadow, and then I go back and really add a lot of detail, highlights, lowlights, that type of thing. Then I do the final touchup phase, so, really, I'm painting everything three times. Q: How do you put a piece together? A: Just a lot of vintage ephemera, vintage buttons, any kind of scraps that I find. I try to find catch phrases that just stick in my head and try to incorporate that into the visual stuff. Like the piece that I donated to Scott Griffin's benefit, I knew I wanted to do something medical but not like cancer sucks or anything like that. So I kind of skirted the edge. It's just a bag and it has a picture of an anatomically correct heart. The catch phrase is open wounds from the cutting edge. Q: What do you like to paint? A: I really love painting portraits and I really gravitate toward costumes from the '50s. Clothes back then were just really constructed to the nth degree and there's a lot of details that you can put in. And the hairdos were really sculptural, the way they had all the pin curls and the waves and that type of thing. That's fun to paint. Q: Would you say your work has a message?
A: I hope it's uplifting. It would be really easy to get really, really political. One of my favorite artists is a British artist named Banksy, and he has an amazing Web site. He's a graffiti artist, very political. He uses really strong images and phrases just to catch people's imagination. His latest work was going to the wall that Israel was erecting and going to the Palestinian side and doing these fantasy scenes on it.Q: What deters you from political themes? A: I just really wish that somebody would come along who is ready to get people together instead of splitting them. I feel like this country is just fifty-fifty. I think that if you go through your day, you probably know people who are Democrats or Republicans that you really like a lot, but the politicians and certain news media will just have you think that they're the enemy whoever they are, and I wouldn't want to be a part of that. I just think it's time people kind of accepted each others' differences and stopped the madness.
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