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Sophia Louise Smith - Artist
Sophia was born in the Sierra Nevadas where she was surrounded by the beauty and wildness that nature provides. Her childhood was filled with backpacking and flyfishing trips to Yosemite and alpine lakes near Tahoe or spending summers on her grandparent's ranch. During those times she was always sketching or painting her surroundings, trying to capture this natural beauty that mystified her.
She went to college to study economics and environmental studies, but the whole time she always had one foot in artwork, painting in her free time and maintaining steady commissions. Her senior year she dedicated her capstone project towards a solo gallery show at Montstream Gallery in Burlington, VT. Her exhibit explored the contemporary contrast of women in the western landscape to the historically dominated masculine portraiture in classical western art. By doing so she painted the courage of women in the west with a romantic motif to illuminate the dichotomy existing between these two narratives. When she graduated, she moved to New York and began pursuing her artwork full time.
Her fascination with western art and the deep cultural and compositional contrasts that western landscapes and horses provide play a role in her work, but her contemporary pieces are not tied down by the western motif, only broadened by the history. Growing up, she spent a lot of time with her grandparents who reside in the foothills of California where there were more horses and cows than humans. Her grandfather, Mallard Huntley, is also a collector of Western Art, Keith Christie being one of his neighbors. As a result, traditional western art has always played a part in her visual aesthetic when it comes to finding inspiration.
Since then, her work has evolved, to a contemporary composition balancing between mixed media and larger oil pieces. Most pieces start with a tan toned platform (a play on vintage artwork) of which colors, charcoal, and graphite mix together to create shapes and forms, usually inspired by the equestrian form. Currently residing in Taos, New Mexico, she is constantly inspired by the enchanting light and mountainous landscapes. Her passion for hunting and fly fishing the New Mexico environment brings her consistent inspiration.

Accomplishments
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Solo gallery exhibition at Montstream Studio in Burlington, VT. Part of an oil painting apprenticeship I did with Katharine. https://www.kmmstudio.com
*See photo on the left.
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"Lady Dusk" painting accepted into 2022 FEMINA exhibition and publication hosted by Gallerium, Biafarin, and the Book of Arts.
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Gallery show at Poppy heart gallery in Montauk, NY. June 2021
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Gallery show at Matriak, August 2021
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Solo Show at the Lucore Art Gallery, Montauk, NY 2022
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Montauk Arts on the Green June 2023
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Currently:
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Originals shown at
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LUN + OJO Gallery, Taos, NM
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Blinking Crow Gallery, Taos, NM
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I look forward to working with more Galleries moving forward, please reach out if you are interested.
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