Artist Statement

There is a mesmerising quality to watching the play of light on water, the reflection of light into the water's depths and off its surface and the change in colour and shape of the stones underneath. Sometimes it brings the colour and shape into sharp focus, and at times changes their shape entirely until the the individual stones become one blurred mass of colours.

My paintings involve a moment in time, the detail that is often overlooked, the play of light, casting shadows, or reflecting hidden aspects. I am drawn to nature and the stillness within each moment. I paint in acrylic for the most part. I like the immediacy of it and the ability to make it either opaque and dense or transparent like watercolour; hiding what is underneath or peeling back to see a glimpse. Colour has always played an important role in my expression.

Biography

Kim Smerek is an illustrator and artist working in Port Clyde. She makes commissioned paintings and illustrations for individuals and businesses.

She went to York University in Toronto for Fine Art and OCAD for Editorial Illustration. Kim has lived all over Canada, in Toronto, Montreal, in Squamish, BC, and Calgary. She also spent IO years in a small town in the desert and mountains of Arizona, where she had the opportunity to develop as an artist, working as the town sign painter and with high end interior designers in Sedona and Phoenix creating trompe l'oeil and murals in magnificent homes.

She spent her years in Calgary at F&D Scene Changes working as a Scenic Artist.There, she fabricated props, theatre backdrops and exhibits for museum, commercial and film industry. Her clients included Disney, Holt Renfrew, and the Calgary Zoo. She has painted backdrops and scenery for Broadway productions such as Lion King, Wicked and the Houston Ballet.

As an art educator; she has developed and delivered elementary school programs and community art projects, teaching art theory and technique, and offering workshops on creativity to educators. Kim developed and taught a hugely successful IO week self-portrait puppet making residency in elementary schools throughout Squamish using recycled and repurposed materials. She loves to share the joy of experimenting and process when she teaches.