Shannon Smith
There is something to be said for good genes. And Shannon Smith comes from some very good genes. The Smith triplets, Shannon, Jennifer, and Tripp, all artists, are the children of renowned painter Betty Anglin Smith. As a child, Smith spent her days playing in her mother’s studio. When she applied to Clemson University they required her to declare a major. The subject that most intrigued her was art. “I figured that I could always change it down the road, but I never did,” she says.
Smith earned her BFA with a focus in oil painting and returned to Charleston, unsure of her future. She took all the prerequisite courses and applied for MUSC’s occupational therapy program. Being waitlisted for the program “was a blessing in disguise,” she says. It gave her pause to rethink her next move. And it proved a very wise move.
“[My sister] Jennifer and I had shared a booth at Piccolo Spoleto during college,” she says. Smith decided to spend the next few months preparing for the popular Piccolo Spoleto Outdoor Art Exhibit in Marion Square. She thoroughly enjoyed it, and the great sales gave her the boost of confidence she needed to “make the leap.”
Smith has spent years studying painting. She has studied with her mother and other gifted painters like Kim English and Gregg Kreutz. She has studied the light…the light on her subject, the light of the Lowcountry, New England, Argentina, France, Italy…and later this year she’ll study the light in Greece, where she and Laurie Meyer will teach a workshop in Santorini. (Take us with you!)
Smith’s varied subject matter is united by her emphasis on light. Her eye is always looking, constantly aware, in tune with the light, painting whatever strikes her. Once a week, Smith’s CSA delivers fresh produce to her doorstep. “I always love their presentation; I’ll pull a few things out, paint a still life, and then cook it up for dinner that night!” she says. What a tasty piece of artwork that must be! Visit Smith Killian Fine Art and see the world through the eyes of Shannon Smith.
words: Stacy Huggins
Smith Killian Fine Art
9 Queen Street
843.853.0708
smithkillian.com
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