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Barbara Smits - Artist’s Statement
I am a writer, photographer, videographer, digital artist, and learning natural media artist.
I was born in 1943 in De Pere, Wisconsin, also known as Rapids des Peres, or “Rapids of the Fathers,” the site of a Jesuit Mission built at the first rapids of the Fox River in 1672. I feel that being born in such a dramatic and historic place has magnified my love for history and all things beautiful!
My choice of subjects takes many paths, for I try to find things of beauty everywhere, large or small, regardless of subject matter, and present them to people as thoughts. I recently photographed a red swing, shining in the afternoon sun, suspended from a large tree branch. A young man and his girlfriend passed by as I was setting up the shot. He mentioned that he had passed the red swing many times, but today for the first time he saw it through my eyes as a beautiful photographic subject! As for me, the red swing immediately took my breath away and I went back on several occasions to catch its many moods!
I try to be a serious artist and produce artwork that will make people think and perhaps motivate and inspire them...to do what, only they will know.
I am also a published writer and video producer having produced “A Coming Together - Oneida White Corn Harvest” for Wisconsin Public Television as well as numerous newspaper and magazine articles and other video productions dealing mostly with history, including “The Port Of Green Bay” and “The Old Military Road and the MRSWT.” My photographs hang throughout Wisconsin.
Most of my work today consists of photographs that are printed as giclée prints, either as straight photographic prints or digitally manipulated to be impressionist artworks. I love to work in the digital realm! Every photo can be manipulated in countless ways and the final results can be AWESOME! The hardest part is choosing which way to go!
I believe that artwork is meant to enrich and educate people and should not be limited to galleries and wealthy people’s collections. Artwork is meant to be produced by people who love to create it and should be viewed by people who love to view it!
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