PRESS
Shepherd Express interview, Kat Minerath with Colette Odya Smith and Darron Lillian. Press the play button below or click here to view on YouTube.

REVIEWS

The first Colette Odya Smith painting I had the pleasure of encountering was at the International Association of Pastel Societies’ juried exhibition in 2009. In this rarefied atmosphere Smith’s painting stood out from the start.  Everything was right in “Wishing You Well.”  The artist had found a magical subject in a slice of nature and interpreted it in a beautiful fusion of realism and abstraction. Viewers were transported to the side of a stream, enrapt by the clear water, the reflection of a multi-hued sky, organic patterns of leaves, branches and their shadows, and a color design balanced between fidelity to nature and willingness to augment for aesthetic impact. The painting received a major award, one of more than 30 that have honored Smith in over 100 juried exhibitions in the U.S., Canada, and France during the first 20 years of her career.  Every Smith pastel I have seen since that show has all the marks of greatness: a composition almost choreographic in its fluid grace, a magnetic color design, aesthetic harmony, and a suffusion of energetic peace.  A recurring aspect in Smith’s work is the astute variability in how she weighs realism and abstraction to a perfect equilibrium. She navigates seasons, lands, and waters in her paintings with a strong and gentle sensibility that honors mystery and mood.  Every painting by Colette Odya Smith rewards viewers again and again.

Wolfgang Mabry  –  Fine Art Consultant, Canyon Road, Santa Fe,NM

Excerpt from “The Beautiful and the Sublime” Katie Gingrass Gallery and Kant: A Philosophical Analysis of “Au Naturel”

In a truly Kantian spirit, Colette Odya Smith expressed her intent to “move between abstraction and representation to show different viewpoints” through her rich pastel interpretations of the natural world. Her works, Drifting, Rich Remains and Cast Lose, which she described as being “inspired by God’s viewpoint” enveloped one in a sea of blueness. Upon continued observation, the subject matter came into view. In Drifting, after a few stunned moments of looking at what seemed to be abstraction, part of a tree revealed itself. If Kant’s aesthetic theory tells us that a work of art should depict nature – and do so in a way that renders it as distinctly artistic without overwhelming us with its technique – then no work could better exemplify this than Drifting. The technique is obviously very well developed – there is no question – but the technique never takes over the work, you never get the sense that you are merely looking at a technically proficient nature scene, but rather are temporarily lost in a delicate unfolding of the environment that is as interpretative as it is accurate.

Amy Lapisardi

Excerpt from “Aqua Bella” and more at the Delafield Arts Center

Leaves, logs, rocks, water – whether still or swirling – become layered patterns in her colorful pastel paintings. Without a horizon for an anchor her perspectives become ambiguous and disorienting. The imagery has equal parts earthiness and mystery, suggestive of a transcendent, perhaps spiritual presence.

Eddee Daniel –  ARTS WITHOUT BORDERS Weblog

Straddling the line between landscape and abstraction, pastel artist Colette Odya Smith’s works are as much meditations on strong lines and pools of color as they are unique windows on the world. With the natural world as her starting point, Smith brings ambiguity and power to the patterns and sense of scale found in nature. Smith is one of five artists who now has work on view in the “Light & Texture - Drawings in Pastel” exhibition at the Katie Gingrass Gallery, 241 N. Broadway. Smith, a local artist whose work I like quite a lot, has a number of new pieces in the show, including smaller works that feature a patch of sky. The best, though, are the trio of works which have us hovering over a turquoise pool of water. Smith is at her best when she allows the sense of scale and particulars in her landscapes to drift toward ambiguity.

Mary Louise Schumacher: Art City Weblog  – Milwaukee Journal Sentinel visual arts writer

“She’s driving me crazy!” by Robin Samiljan

Summer is just beginning, and I spent four days in a workshop at the Peninsula School of Art with Colette Odya-Smith. I missed the opportunity to attend her workshop two years ago when she was the judge of awards for the Chicago Pastel Painters 8th Biennial National show. I had seen her work at IAPS last year and admit I didn’t fully understand her process. Her paintings intrigue me.

At the workshop Colette explained how she works from nature using her photographs. She looks for details… in a tree, a rock, a water reflection, and then interprets what she sees creating an abstract representation of the place or thing that inspired her. Sometimes she creates a collage from several of her photos in order to get the composition that works best. Her thumbnail sketches and notes along with her reference photos are taped to the side of the easel. She starts with a watercolor underpainting and the foundation is strong. Watching her application of pastels combined with the underpainting was a delicate balance as her colors and composition developed.

I signed up for the workshop hoping to find a way to make my paintings more exciting. Colette was encouraging and pushed each of us to take just one step further, out of our comfort zone. We joked about how she made us crazy, and that it was her job to do so! My personal goal was to learn how to paint rocks, both in and out of water, but then she took me one step further to where I was almost able to let go of what was right in front of me and see in new ways. Color choices for me became more abstract.

Of the five paintings I completed, one was just “over the edge” for me, and made me crazy uncomfortable. I often apply transparent gesso to my painting surface to create textures before adding pastels. I decided to draw the composition using a dark Nupastel after the gesso dried, added watercolor, then started to layer with dark pastels and the painting turned to mud. I ended up washing the painting in the sink and was left with just a pastel drawing along with the textured watercolor underpainting. I wanted to throw it out but my classmates along with Colette encouraged me to see this as a beginning of a new direction for me.

I am still trying to process everything we learned and I know it will take time. Meeting Colette and getting to know her way of thinking, how she sees the world and what makes her tick, was a highlight. Her passion for art and teaching energized all of us each day.