Up Next! Opposites Attract Show at the Cain Center

New Show at the Cain Center of the Arts, Cornelius, North Carolina

Filigree 

20" x 20"

Crack of Dawn

11" x 14"

I am always so excited and honored to participate in exhibitions at the Cain Center.  It is a beautiful place dedicated to the arts in Cornelius, NC.  Click the link for more information about the Cain.  

The Opposites show was a new adventure for me.  For someone who loves color, painting with just black and white was a challenge.  I also added an abstract -- which I almost never paint!  The show reception will be Thursday, September 26th, 6:30 to 8:30 pm.  Both these paintings will be available for purchase at the show.  

My next adventure will be an upcoming pop up market with my granddaughter at Polkville Baptist Church in Polkville, NC.  She will be selling her crocheted animals and I will be selling small paintings ~ more about that in the coming days. 

The weather is cooling down and I plan on taking the opportunity to get outside and paint!  I have never painted outside before, even though it has always been on my list of things to do. 

Well off to finish another large painting!

Thank you for stopping by~

Torrie

Mint Hill Arts Tiny Treasures Show

 

Italian Lemons

6" x 6"

Acrylic Paint on Canvas Framed

Red Cherries III

6" x 6"

Acrylic Paint on Canvas Framed

Well Played II

6"x 6" 

Acrylic Paint on Canvas Framed

Audrey's Lilies

6" x 6" 

Acrylic Paint on Canvas Framed

This was my first year participating in the Mint Hill Arts Tiny Treasures Show.  It was a great show with so many wonderful paintings.  The show will run through September 5th.  Paintings are available for purchase through the Mint Hill Arts Store here.

Hidden Treasures from the previous post has been varnished, framed and sent off to its new home in Virginia.

The summer has flown by and have so many fun things coming up soon.  New and different paintings are on the way!

Thanks for stopping by,

Torrie

It has been awhile!

Hidden Treasure

12" x 12" 

Acrylic Paint and Gold Leaf

~Sold~

Sorry I haven't posted anything lately.  We have been busy with family traveling and catching up, but now back to painting!

I don't usually paint abstract paintings, I prefer still life and landscapes.  I had an idea and decided to give it a try--on a small scale with a 12" x 12" canvas.  

I started with a very colorful, loosely painted background.  (I may have to do this again....but much larger!

The next step, I covered most of the canvas with a thick impasto layers of similar colors using a knife.  I wanted it to look like broken plaster.

I then added just a very narrow edge along the openings with gold leaf.

Are you still with me?  Next came more layers of the impasto plaster-type layers in lighter colors to give it depth.

I then added a white edge next to the gold leaf, for more definition.

I added more layers of the "plaster type layer". 

Lastly, a bit of touch of on the colored under layer (where I had wayward gold leaf.)

I then framed the painting in a gold floater frame. 

My little abstract adventure has sold and will soon be shipped to its new home.

I hope you have enjoyed the progress pictures of my abstract adventure!  It will be a while before I do another one. 

Up next is another baseball painting.  This one will be going to the "Smalls" show in Mint Hill.  I am currently working to finish two more small paintings for the show.

Thank you for stopping by and continuing to follow my painting adventures.

Torrie

 

The Monarch II

6" x 6" x 1.5"

Gallery Wrapped Canvas

The Blue Morpho Butterfly

6" x 6" x 1.5"

Gallery Wrapped Canvas

The Eastern Tiger Swallowtail Butterfly

6" x 6" x 1.5"

Gallery Wrapped Canvas

The Peacock Eye Butterfly 

6" x 6" x 1.5"

Gallery Wrapped Canvas

Current Available Butterflies

This has been a very busy time, but I did get a new Monarch Butterfly painting competed and there are currently four available at torriesmiley.com

The Mint Museum Show continues in uptown Charlotte through the end of May.  I have a small abstract to complete and then will be doing a series of small still life.  

I am going to try and get started with the local plein air group, so be on the lookout for more landscapes.  I have not painted landscapes very often and its time to start doing more!

Thank you for stopping by!

Torrie

 

An Evening at the Mint!

 STANDING AMONG THE ASPENS

24" X 30"

Available to ship after the close of the exhibition.

Me at the Mint!

The Last Inning - On the Mint Website!

A once in a life time opportunity!  I now can say my artwork has hung in the Mint Museum Uptown Charlotte and my painting "The Last Inning" is currently on the Mint website!  It really doesn't get any better than this.  I want to thank the Guild of Charlottes for making this opportunity happen for over 150 hard working artists in and around the Charlotte community.  So many talented artists in one room!  Filled with family, friends, and collectors; it was a great evening.

The Mint was filled with artwork of all kinds, abstracts, representational, fiber, collage, jewelry, pottery, too many to mention.  It is a wonderful exhibit.  Try and make it to the 5th floor of the Mint and enjoy the celebration of art!  Wednesday at the Mint there is free admission and plenty of parking at 550 S. Tryon St,  Levine Center and Mint parking.  

I plan on going back to the Mint to see the show.  There were so many at the opening, it was hard to see all of the art.

Thanks for stopping by and continuing to follow my adventures!

Torrie 

NEXT UP-- THE MINT MUSEUM!

 

Standing Among the Aspens

24" x 30"

Coming in just a few days!  The opening reception for the "Guilding the Mint" Guild of Charlotte Artists show at the Mint Museum in Uptown Charlotte will be Wednesday, April 23rd, 6-9 pm.  Admission to the Mint is free on Wednesdays.

The painting is finished, just need to apply the varnish, let it dry and then frame in a gold floater frame.

This will be my last show until the fall......maybe.  I will be a juror for the next Guild show, so I will not be participating.  It is the "Small Works" show, which I always love doing, since painting small is my favorite! 

I will be completing several small paintings to upload to the online stores in the coming months. I have been busy with constant shows since January and it will be nice to spend with time with family this summer.

Check back again soon!  I will definitely be up to something!

Thanks for stopping by~

Torrie

Opening Day Charlotte County Day!

                         

This evening is the Opening Night Reception at Charlotte County Day Art Sale!  I will have 23 paintings available for purchase at the event.  Here are just 20 of the paintings that will be available.  The sale hours are the following times and days:

                                Wed, April 9th 5 - 7pm: Opening Night and Sale

                                Thurs, April 10th 10am - 7pm: Art Sale

                                Friday, April 11th 10am - 7pm: Art Sale

                                Saturday, April 12th 10am - 3pm: Art Sale

I spent the morning yesterday hanging the paintings at Charlotte Country Day and forgot to take a picture of all the paintings after they were hung.  I will try to get pictures when the sale opens today.

Thank you for continuing to follow the blog, next week I will be posting the information for the upcoming Mint Museum show in Uptown Charlotte.

Thanks for stopping by!  See you at Charlotte Country Day~

Torrie

Shout Out North Carolina Interview

 Torrie Smiley

This year has started out so exciting!  The Cain show opening was fabulous!  The Guild of Charlotte Artists Winter Show painting, Orchid Solo, was a fun painting with loads of color.  The show opening was a great evening.  And now this~, I was honored to have been asked to share my story with the online magazine "Shout Out North Carolina".  

You can read the article HERE.

I have managed to complete a few small paintings during all the fabulous adventures.  You can find them in my Etsy store or at my website, TorrieSmiley.com

There was also time to help move children to new homes and celebrate the boys 10th birthday.  I can't wait for all the fun coming next!

Thank you for stopping by~

Torrie

The Winter Show, Guild of Charlotte Artists

Orchid Solo

20" x 20", Framed

Me, with the framed painting

The Winter show opening with the Guild of Charlotte Artists was Thursday, February 6th, at Christ Episcopal Church in Charlotte, NC.  There were over 80 paintings to view.  The show was well attended and so much fun!  The show will run through March - stop in the Good News Gallery to see the show and purchase a favorite!

Now on to the next adventure.  I have some new smaller paintings coming.  I will be uploading the new painting "Oranges and Cranberries" into the stores online tomorrow.   

There is an interview coming out soon for "Shoutout North Carolina". I will post a link when it goes live.

Thank you for stopping by~

Torrie

The Rocks of Lake Lure before the storm

 The Rocks of Lake Lure

16" x 20" 

Acrylic on Canvas

The Wittmer Collection

May 16, 2007

One of the first large landscapes I painted after a trip to Lake Lure.  It was purchased by the Wittmers of the Lake Lure Inn and added to their collection.

This has been a very difficult week.  The amount of devastation in the mountains of western North Carolina is hard to comprehend.  I am so fortunate my family is safe with little damage and back home with power restored.  

I will be spending this weekend in upper Cleveland County near South Mountain in my daughter's home. I will be back to the studio next week.

Thank you for stopping by,

Torrie

Hanging out with the Kids!

 

The past few weeks have been filled with the kids and travel!  I went to Charlottesville, Virginia to see the kids and celebrate their anniversary.  Charlottesville is not that far from Charlotte and the scenery is beautiful.  It makes me very anxious to get started on new landscape paintings.

Then a quick trip to the country to celebrate Miss Lucy's 10th birthday.  We watched her soccer game and then had a birthday cookie.  While in Casar, I noted a barn that needs to be in a landscape painting!  Good thing I will going back in a couple of weeks.

The Guild of Charlotte Artists major event ~ the PopUp Market at the Mint Museum was this past weekend.  I had a blast!!  I did not sell my work at the market.  When the event was in the planning stages, I was still working full time so I didn't have time to devote to painting.  I volunteered to help the artists unload and set up their booths.  It was so much fun, and very inspiring to see so many wonderful artworks in one location.  

Now off to finish updating my studio~ 

Thank you for stopping by~

Torrie

Summer Strawberries

 

Summer Strawberries 

6" x 6" x 1.5"

Acrylic Paint on Deep Profile Gallery Wrapped Canvas

~Sold~

Love this painting!  Well love-hate this painting.  It was much harder than I thought it would be and took way longer to complete than I thought it would, but I am very happy with the result.  Fresh strawberries in a transparent blue bowl.  The dish was found in the garage of my daughter's new home when she moved in during the spring of 2020.  It is sitting on my Amazon dish towel.  

Since retiring from the "real job", I am slowly working my way up to daily painting.  My studio needed a much needed clean up (almost 20 years of clutter and hoarding art supplies).  I am looking forward to a slimmed down studio with more room to be creative.

Here are some progress shots of the painting.  I am trying to get better about taking pictures as I am painting.  I know that is a fan favorite, but I sometimes get so caught up in the painting process; I forget to takes pictures.  

This painting has sold but others are available for purchase at TorrieSmiley.com or in my Etsy Store.

Thank you for stopping by~

Torrie

FULL OF HOPE

 

Full of Hope

24" x 30"

Acrylic Paint on Gallery Wrapped Canvas

Collection of the Artist

I'm back!  How many times over the years I have said this.  Now is the time--I have waited years to paint full time and enjoy my art adventure.  I retired in June and hit the ground running.  I have completed three shows and am working at getting back to daily painting full time!

I am now on the board of the Guild of Charlotte Artists and having the time of my life.

Full of Hope was created for the Myers Park United Methodist Church Gallery opening.  I love how the painting turned out and is one of my favorites.  I have decided to keep this one for a while.  

You can purchase prints of the painting at Fine Art America.com

I am not quite back up to painting.  I am cleaning up my studio and completing some commissioned work and then the fun will begin!  

Thank you all for continuing to follow my work.

Current works available can be found at my website www.torriesmiley.com

Torrie

How it all started...About me...

Yellow Pears I  -  2005  

                                                           One Yellow Pear - 2020

I have been drawing as long as I can remember.  I spent more time drawing in class when I probably should have been paying attention.  In high school, I had my first opportunity to paint with a wonderful local artist Nell Bennett.  That is when I fell in love with painting.  I really can’t call myself self-taught because there are so many people through the years who have helped me be a better artist.  

As with many of artists, the slight detour came when I became an adult and fell victim to the phrase; “You need to get a real job, painting is a hobby not a career.” 

Fast forward twenty years, my daughter had an art class project that she, of course, waited until the last weekend to start.  She had to complete a painting for art class.  I told her I used to paint back in the day, and we would paint together.  We bought acrylic paint since she needed it to be dry by Monday.  We both started from the same reference photo.  That weekend was all that it took—

Being a single mom with two teenage girls, painting kept me from going crazy!.  Painting was my drug of choice, it was addicting. I soon realized I would not be able to afford my new “hobby” if I didn’t find a way to pay for the paint—quality art supplies are expensive.  I decided to put a few of my small paintings on eBay.  If they sold I could buy more paint!  I guess you could say the rest is history.  

Since that time, I have sold over 700 small daily paintings in my various online stores.  My children often referred to it as my hobby that got totally out of control.  I was fortunate to be selling art online and have been selling my art on Etsy since the early years.  I was one of the original artists to join Daily Paintworks started by Carol Marine and her husband David.  I have followed wonderful daily painting artists like Carol, David Keiser, and Qiang Huang along with many others which have helped me grow as an artist.  The explosion of painting websites, youtube, instagram, downloadable instruction videos, and online workshops make this a great time to be an artist.  

I am now painting both small daily paintings and larger paintings that I enter into local and online shows.  My paintings are available for sale here on my website, Daily Paintworks, and my Etsy Store.  Prints of my paintings are available through Fine Art America. 

If you would like to know when the new paintings are coming online before they are released, sign up for my new art alerts and newsletter. 

Thank you for stopping by and following my adventure!  I am having the time of my life! 

Torrie

Day Three of the 30 Paintings in 30 Days~ Pear 2016-1

Pear 2016-1

6"  x  6"

Acrylic Paint on Gallery Wrapped Canvas

~Sold~

Day Three of the 30 paintings in 30 days with Leslie Saeta.  My first pear painting for the year!!   I have a feeling there will be many to come.

Pear 2016-1 was painted using professional artist grade acrylic paint on a museum quality gallery wrapped canvas with painted sides to allow for display without a frame. Painting was finished with a light coat of varnish. 

This painting has sold.  You can find paintings available for purchase at my Etsy.com store. 

Day Four tomorrow~  

Thanks for stopping by,

Torrie

Day 2! Cupcake 011

Cupcake 011

6" x  6"

Acrylic Paint on Gallery Wrapped Canvas

~Sold~

Day Two of the 30 paintings in 30 days with Leslie Saeta.  Cupcakes!  I like eating them more than painting them.  

Cupcake 011 was painted using professional artist grade acrylic paint on a museum quality gallery wrapped canvas with painted sides to allow for display without a frame. Painting was finished with a light coat of varnish. 

Day Three tomorrow~  Off to paint!

Thanks for stopping by,

Torrie

New Pear Painting Today! November Pear

November Pear

6" x 6"

Acrylic Paint on Gallery Wrapped Canvas

~Sold~

It is so nice to be painting and I love painting pears!  There is so much painting to be done and so little time!  

November Pear was painted using professional artist grade acrylic paint on a museum quality gallery wrapped canvas with painted sides to allow for display without a frame. Painting was finished with a light coat of varnish. 

Thank you for stopping by~

Torrie

Painting #12 on Day 21 of the 30 Paintings in 30 Days Challenge

Baseball VII

6" x  6" x 1.5"

Acrylic Paint on Gallery Wrapped Canvas

~Sold~

Painting #12! This is day 21 of the 30 Paintings in 30 Days in September with Leslie Saeta and I may never catch up...but I have not quit!! I have painted this baseball several times before, but this is by far the best one!  I love it.  

Baseball VII was painted using professional artist grade acrylic paint on a museum quality deep gallery wrapped canvas with painted sides to allow for display without a frame. This painting can be hung on the wall unframed or sat on a shelf without an easel.  This painting was finished with a light coat of varnish. 

This painting has sold.

Now, I have to get to work on a commissioned piece~ hopefully will be posting soon!

Thanks for stopping by~

Torrie

Painting #11 on Day 19 of the 30 Paintings in 30 Days Challenge

Radishes II

6" x  6" 

Acrylic Paint on Ampersand Gessobord

~Sold~

Day Nineteen of the 30 Paintings in 30 Days in September with Leslie Saeta and this is painting #11.  I should have posted this one yesterday, but I was too tired.  So, better late than never! 

Radishes II was painted using professional artist grade acrylic paint on a museum quality Ampersand Gessobord. Painting can be placed in a small frame and also be placed on a small easel for display.

Today, I am painting a baseball first on deep gallery wrapped canvas......then who knows, but I plan on painting all day!

Thank you for stopping by~

Torrie