Today we’d like to introduce you to Gail Smuda.
Gail, please kick things off for us by telling us about yourself and your journey so far.
A doctor once suggested I could cut down on the headaches I was getting around the age of fourteen by not reading for 6 hours or more a day. The headaches went away but the reading habit never did. Because I was an only child, who obviously read a lot, I began doing all sorts of handicrafts that I could learn by reading about them. It never occurred to me to do art until I took an adult education drawing class at the age of 30.
I never looked back. Within six months of that first drawing class I was going full time to the local college where we then lived in Florida and then on to the university. After moving to New Hampshire in 1979 I eventually ended up teaching drawing and art history at Southern NH University for a decade and retired from there two years ago.
Initially I was a painter and for a little over a decade I enjoyed the work I was doing but found the expense of shipping very large works to be unsustainable and began to think of how I could do what I was doing but on a much smaller scale. Books, being stacked everywhere in my home, seemed a logical place to go. I love the scale, the weight and the ideas that can be presented in books. They are flexible, self-defining, and not bound, pun intended, to be traditional in format or materials. They seem to be on a more human scale than the paintings I was doing in the early 80’s.
My activity in the local art scene led to my becoming a founder of the New Hampshire Chapter of the Women’s Caucus for Art. I’ve been fortunate in receiving two Individual Artist grants from the state of New Hampshire, had several trips (I’ve lost count – it was either 4 or 5 times) to Vermont Studio Center including one that was fully granted financially and have had my work presented in several books – on books. The State of New Hampshire has also collected and commissioned my work.
Can you give our readers some background on your art?
My work tends to focus on women and women’s work. Being in college during the early days of the feminist movement allowed me to take many classes on the then new subject of “Women’s Studies”. It was eye opening seeing what was contained in the law, literature and many other subjects concerning women. History had always been one of my favorite subjects and so there were many, many ideas to express including horror at the way women were, and sadly still are, perceived by many in this society.
Do you think conditions are generally improving for artists? What more can cities and communities do to improve conditions for artists?
I think it’s easier on one hand and more difficult on the other due to the same thing – the internet. Easier in getting the work out there but far more difficult in getting the right people to see it in a sea of artwork that is both very good and incredibly bad.
Community/networking is what feels right to me. The more community artists have the more support they have. Artists thrive with the support of their community both with other artists and in physical spaces where they can interact.
What’s the best way for someone to check out your work and provide support?
My work is included in Opulence: Everything That Glitters is Not Gold at The Center for Book Arts – NYC, July 11 – Sept. 22. A Second Look – Collaborative work with Laura Morrison, Kimball Jenkins Estate, Concord, NH – July 9 – August 26
My website is gailsmuda.com
Email femartnh@yahoo.com
Support comes in many ways. I decided a long time ago that I was more likely to find exhibitions a route to satisfaction than in trying to find a viable gallery that could sell my work. I focused on exhibiting my work and it has been exhibited in juried exhibitions in 47 states and several foreign countries including Ireland and Australia.
I would love to find more venues for sales but realize that’s a difficult thing to find in the genre of book arts.
If I could find the path to financial support for my art I would be more than willing to go there but most of my time is spent making the work and less time than I should spend attempting to sell it. Some artists, myself included, have a tough time with this part of their art making.
Contact Info:
- Address: Concord, NH
- Website: www.gailsmuda.com
- Phone: 603-228-1276
- Email: gsmuda@mac.com
Image Credit:
Artwork – Charley Freiberg
Portrait – Diana Hovey Spencer
Getting in touch: BostonVoyager is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.
