Today we’d like to introduce you to Andrew Smith.
Hi Andrew, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today.
After a 32-year career as a music teacher in Pennsylvania’s Perry County, I opened Visual Realia, a clay monoprint studio. This unusual medium combines techniques from both pottery and printmaking, using colored clay slips to design a work on a slab of clay before transferring it to its final surface. Numerous examples filled several south central Pennsylvania gallery spaces in solo shows during 2021 and 2022. Other projects include working as an arts “navigator” to aid creative entrepreneurs with the grant writing process. In addition, 2022 marked the creation of Culture On The Line, an online home for documenting the region’s cultural highlights. I’m a past president of the Hanover Area Arts Guild, and I’m currently a board member of The Grotto in York, the Guthrie Library in Hanover, and the Adams County Farmers Market in Gettysburg. Other interests include photography, wildflower gardening, food, and community.
We all face challenges, but would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Southcentral Pennsylvania is a very culturally conservative area. The town where I live, Hanover, is a wonderful place with a limited art market. Art is generally underpriced, and abstract art, which I create, has a smaller gallery footprint than traditional art subjects. It’s taken work and patience to expand my market gradually.
Thanks – so, what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
The art medium of clay monoprints is based on a tradition where new works build on the prior; the artist designs each original print upon the remnants of the prints before. Clay monoprint artists know that random elements of past prints will appear randomly; the artist shapes the work but never has complete control, much as life itself. With this in mind, most clay monoprint artists focus on process over product. Pennsylvanian Mitch Lyons, the clay monoprint medium and techniques creator, passed away in early 2018. I was fortunate to learn specialized techniques from him before his passing, and now I feel passionate about helping to share his unique art form through creating works and teaching others. There are relatively few artists practicing this unique art form — one with which many other artists are unfamiliar.
Are there any important lessons you’ve learned that you can share with us?
Creating connections and community is key both in and out of the visual art world. Artists must support each other and the galleries and organizations that work to share their art. Expanding one’s reach geographically necessitates connecting with new people. With other artists, we created the Collective Rogue Arts, an artist community aside from more structured organizations. This group of creatives seeks new ways of sharing our work and gathering regularly socially, something we’ve found was greatly desired. Success for our communities also requires connection; successful towns and cities are so because of shared efforts.
Pricing:
- Pricing for works varies by size of the finished work and the framing options.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.visualrealia.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/visualrealia/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/VisualRealiaStudio
- Other: https://www.cultureontheline.com
Image Credits
images copyright Andrew T Smith
