Jerry Smith
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| A Movable Feast - All images are courtesy of the artist |
Jerry Smith is a re-emerging artist who received his BFA in 1979 from Miami University with a concentration in painting and printmaking, and his MFA in 1981 from the University of Colorado focusing on painting and drawing. In addition to traditional mediums, Jerry’s early work consisted of life-sized, three-dimensional abstract figures made from torn and woven tar paper, paint, and roofing compounds on carved wood armatures. After a 40-year career in nonprofit arts administration and fundraising, Jerry returned to working full-time as a visual artist in 2021 with a focus on figurative drawing and painting. More recently, he has re-engaged with his early interest in printmaking. Jerry draws on his lived experience with diverse performing and visual arts organizations and educational institutions to inform and heighten his creative work. Jerry lives in Shaker Heights, OH with his wife Sue Starrett.
Hi Jerry Smith! I am thrilled to talk to you today. Let's jump in.
What do you love about making art?
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| Jerry Smith |
Which mediums do you like working with the most? What are some of the more unusual ones you've used?
I think I am happiest with a big ol’ chunk of vine charcoal in my hand. It may not be the most stable of mediums but it is deliciously fluid and expressive. It’s wonderful for exploring new ideas on paper. Beyond that, I enjoy mediums like oil or pastels that are fluid and easily manipulated. Pen and ink? Watercolor? - not so much! The fastidious and process-oriented corner of my brain loves printmaking.
The most unusual material I have worked with is commercial roofing (tar) paper. I grabbed some scraps from a worksite dumpster in graduate school and then started buying it by the roll. I would tear, paint, and weave it over wooden armatures to create abstract figurative works. I keep one of those pieces at my studio door as an altar to the creative spirit. The throughline to my current exploration of fabrics and textures is apparent.
On your website, you call yourself a re-emerging artist. How different or the same does the art world feel to you now?
Oh golly, there was no World Wide Web in 1981. We moved at a slower pace. An artist visited studios, traveled to galleries, subscribed to magazines, and read books to follow the art world. Now, there are so many avenues to share your work and be exposed to other artists of interest. Spend an hour searching for artists who inspire you, and you’ll have a lifetime of images flooding your cellphone! Perhaps it was the institutions where I studied, but no one taught me the “business of art.” I am attempting to learn that on the fly now.
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| Better Hand Made |
How do you evaluate your work?
I suppose like many artists, I am my worst critic. I can see perfection with my mind’s eye but struggle to translate the idea to image. It helps to get away from my work – put it in a drawer, turn the front to the wall or just leave the studio. Sometimes I sneak a peek just before bed so I can ruminate on the work in my sleepless hours. Feedback from respected individuals is also important. While I may not always agree with the assessment - positive or negative - it can break the loop in my brain and allow me to consider the work in a new light. Framing a piece or viewing it in a new environment is also instructive.
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| Blue Dolly Dress |
Where is your studio, and what is your primary work area?
I work primarily in the third-floor suite of our Shaker Heights home. Trust me, the space is getting ever smaller as my practice grows. I long for more vertical wall space and room to work on multiple projects simultaneously. But that said, the convenience of an in-home space has its advantages. I can spend long hours or grab short bursts of time to work. I can take my cup of coffee or beer upstairs and just sit in the middle of the enviornment. I won’t talk about natural light. We live in Cleveland; that changes by the hour! And that’s why we have electricity.
I also rent studio access at Zygote Press for printmaking. It’s been a great way to encourage this introvert to meet and interact with other artists. I love the whole Zygote community including the staff, interns, visiting artists, and resident printmakers.
What clues or questions do you use to select an idea to invest time and resources?
I am fully committed to exploring vintage children’s dresses and coats for a while longer. They are my haystacks and sunflowers. They present endless and invigorating challenges for drawing, painting, and printmaking. I hold the garments in my hands and I look for clues about how, by whom, and for whom they are made. I look carefully for labels, seams, embellishments, or hand-sewn stitches. I find additional clues in the stains, the creases, and the deterioration of the fabric. Stories develop. The history of the garment and the life of the original owner (imagined or known) meld with my contemporary world in the resulting artwork. I am exploring ideas of identity, memory, loss, safety, comfort, and protection as I work through each piece. New ideas flow from one to the other and are influenced by the people around me – and current events.
About your work: what do you hope people notice the most?
I always want people to see the artist’s – Jerry’s” – hand. I want them to notice what is unique about the work and what went into its creation. I rarely work from memory or imagination. I want the subject in my view. I sometimes use photography or other technologies to inform my work, but the end result is a response to what I am seeing that is created by my own hand and informed by all of my senses. Some marks are reflexive gestures, and others are meticulously crafted. My challenge is to find the balance. I hope that the work will evoke a visceral response that is informed by shared experiences of the artist and the viewer. That is success!
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| Perilous Journey |
What is your favorite guilty pleasure?
Oh, it’s probably bidding on vintage children’s dresses on Ebay. It’s addictive. Every time I buy something, there is a new item that appears that “I might like” (which I often do) or the seller offers me a deal (that I can’ refuse)! As new acquisitions fill my studio space, It looks like I have turned the closet inside out.
How do you define success as a creative? How do you hold yourself accountable?
I am fortunate that I do not need to rely on my creative work to put a roof over my head or pay the bills. I do however want to maintain a professional practice as a creative, which means showing and selling my work. . Making art is not a retirement hobby, but a new career focus - one that I had imagined more than 40 years ago when I earned my MFA. I am learning the business of art and building connections with individuals and institutions that can aid in that process. Each year I set short and mid-range goals for my creative practice to measure success. Sadly, I am just too old for long-term goals!
"As a student of the 70’s the abstract expressionists – Willem DeKooning and Joan Mitchell in particular – were a major influence, but I also gravitated to figurative artists like Alice Neal, Eric Fischl, and Lucian Freud."
When do you discuss things with your inner critic?
Oh that damned inner critic! He never leaves me alone. As my wife will confirm, I come out of the studio like Jekyl and Hyde. I am either the most wonderfully inventive and creative artist of all time or a complete failure, depending on the day or the hour. I talk to my critic constantly, but we have the really hard conversations just before I invest in framing costs or prepare for an exhibit. Sometimes I just tell him to shut up, and I move on.
What advice do you have about throwing away work?
I try not to let my work become too precious in the making and to remain willing to erase or paint over even the really “good parts” if necessary or toss it aside. I would advise that artists not be too hasty to throw things away because looking back - even at the failures - can be instructive. But there comes a time to “clean house.” You need space in those flat files for new work, and you must ask yourself if you really want someone to find this when you are dead? Then it’s time to be brutal and head to the recycling center.
What would you tell other artists when they get frustrated with a project?
Walk away if you can. Do something else. Talk about the project with someone you trust. I am a big proponent of visual language standing on its own, but sometimes it helps to verbalize what you are thinking or trying to achieve. Accept feedback, but only keep the advice that makes sense to you.
I've worked throughout my life with a number of performing art organizations. I remind myself that an actor, musician, or dancer has a specific and limited time as the curtain goes up and the house lights dim. They rely on their training, preparation, and artistry to deliver their best performances. We visual artists have the luxury of time but then comes the moment when we need to put the work out there and start the next project.
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| Refuge #3 |
Who are your creative influences, and whose work are you admiring now?
Perhaps no surprise that Jim Dine’s bathrobes are an inspiration for my work. I had actually forgotten about these works until I was reminded, but I’m sure they were somewhere in the back of my mind when I started working on the dresses. As a student of the 70’s the abstract expressionists – Willem DeKooning and Joan Mitchell in particular – were a major influence, but I also gravitated to figurative artists like Alice Neal, Eric Fischl, and Lucian Freud.
Here in Cleveland, I am a huge fan of Paula Damm for her amazingly inventive and topical works that incorporate a variety of crafts, of Leslie Discont Arian for her visceral and often wrenching abstractions, and of Lisa M. Schonberg for her beautiful and evocative climate-focused prints and her generosity of spirit.
How can people follow you and your work?
After several failed attempts on my own, I finally hired someone to create a website:
I am developing a presence on Instagram @jerrysmith.artist
What are you working on currently?
Much of my time in recent months has been spent in preparation for a three-week artist residency at the Morgan Conservatory in September. I have proposed making paper as a substrate for my printmaking, and we’ll see where that exploration takes me. I have been attending workshops with the talented staff at the Morgan to learn Western and Eastern papermaking techniques, as well as exploring techniques of pulp painting. In the studio, I’ve been sketching woodblock print designs for the paper I’ll be creating and carving a number of blocks, which I’ve been testing on a plethora of handmade papers to understand the unique properties of various fibers.
In the meantime, I continue to make drawings, and I’m working on my first stone lithograph in 45 years. I love drawing on stone - now we’ll see if I can remaster the etching and printing process. I’ve totally neglected my oil paints, but have been hearing the siren call.
What would you like people to know that I haven't asked?
Recently I have been thinking about the intersections of my life and art. I grew up in Paulding, Ohio, a rural community of about 3,300 people in Northwestern Ohio. Residents were by and large self-sufficient. We gardened, we canned, we tended to home repairs, and we made things - clothing, quilts, and crafts. We walked to work, school, church, and the homes of friends and family. We looked in on our neighbors and were ready to lend a hand when needed. I left that childhood home after completing an undergraduate degree and moved away - geographically, politically, and spiritually. Now I am using my artistic practice to explore this schism.
My father was a typesetter at a small print shop his entire career. When I don my denim apron or smell printer’s ink, I think of him, and I wish he were around so we could ”talk shop.” He did not agree with all of my life choices, but he steadfastly supported my journey as an artist, and would be pleased to see where that journey has taken me.
My mother was a teacher and encouraged my love of art from an early age. She engaged me to help create decorations and projects for her kindergarten classroom, and she found private instruction to supplement my school’s minimal art education program. She was a seamstress, a quilter, and a baker.
At an early age I learned to work with my hands from both parents. They taught me how to build things, repair things, grow things, and make things. When I am not making art you might find me elaborately decorating cookies, baking bread, growing vegetables, or exploring color and texture in our flower gardens.
I have no biological children, but after the death of my first wife twenty-three years ago, I remarried and gained two remarkable stepsons who have since married and started families of their own. Through my four grandsons I am observing how we humans find our place in the world and watching how innate creativity can develop – or be squashed. In my workshop, they challenge me to create the impossible while I attempt to demonstrate that there is no limit to their creativity. We laugh, we argue, and we make crazy things. And then I steal away with that joy and wonder to my studio.
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| Sue's First Day |
Thank you so much, Jerry Smith. As a fellow printmaker, I think we may need a field trip to the print studio. Please feel free to come back and update us on your adventures anytime.
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