The Pastels of Cindi Smith

The Schorr Gallery welcomes the pastel works of Cindi Smith, a South Jordan, Utah resident and former elementary teacher. Her show will begin with a reception at the Schorr Gallery, located on the third floor of the West Jordan City Hall building on March 21, 2016, at 7 pm. Her exhibit will run until May 6.

According to Cindi, she couldn’t remember when she didn’t love to draw.  She would watch her mother draw using charcoal and ink and still has and treasures some of her works today.

“She had no formal training, but did have a gift,” said Smith. “I had always dreamed of becoming an artist as well, but my mother discouraged me because of how competitive it would be to make a living from art. I became an elementary school teacher.”

Although teaching was to be her chosen career, she still had time to pursue her desire for art by taking a basic drawing class at the community college in Dayton, Ohio, where she grew up, and later taking classes in watercolor and ceramics while attending Brigham Young University.

It wasn’t until 2003 when she, her husband and two of her sons traveled to Santiago, Chile, that her desire to further her artistic pursuits increased. There she paid a local artist to paint portraits of her sons.  When she returned home, and after framing the portraits, she realized that she needed one of her third son who didn’t come on the trip.

She decided to paint it herself. She took some pastels her mother left her and some pastel pencils she bought, met with some ladies in her neighborhood who helped her get started, and completed the portrait of “Jake,” and as she puts it, “the rest is history.”

Her pastels are unique in the details she puts in her work.

“I like to show lots of detail in my paintings, which isn’t always characteristic of pastels,” said Smith. “I love pastels because of the seemingly infinite variety of colors and textures one can create in a composition. Using different techniques it’s possible to create the thick coarse hair of a lion’s mane or the softness of a newborn baby.”

She said that one of her greatest challenges is to find time to paint on a regular basis.

“My goal this year is to work harder at getting to my easel so that someday my children and grandchildren might say … she too had a gift.”

This will be her first solo show at the Schorr.