Shelby Smith: The Beauty of Abstraction | Artist Interview
“I'm really appreciative of being able to get up and do something I love. I have the freedom and the time to do it because I was able to reinvent myself and try something new” - Shelby Smith
Shelby Smith is virtually walking me through her studio. I cannot refrain from commenting that it looks like a Tribeca gallery - carefully planned and curated with artworks on the walls and cozy yellow benches on the sides. She laughs, “It didn't look like that before”. Shelby created her own studio less than half a year ago and has already made it a safe haven for herself and her kittens. It is now in the basement of her house and she confessed that she can go there any time of the day and night, “I'll wake up at 5 o'clock in the morning and go down there. It is suddenly 2 pm, and I haven't had any coffee, I haven't eaten, and I've lost nine hours of my life, and I have no idea what happened. And that's like peace for me”.
Shelby Smith is a self-taught painter who started creating in her 50s and has extensive experience in the beauty industry. There, she learned about color and its impact on people. She believes in the power that color can bring to people, and shares that she learned about color theory from renowned make up artist, Bobbi Brown. In her most senior marketing role, she oversaw Brown's color marketing and helped her develop shade collections four times a year. This changed during Covid, when Shelby had to be at home with the family and felt like she needed something to come to peace with the new uncertain lifestyle. She picked up a brush and 6 years later, she is a full-time abstract painter. The artist shared that, due to her background, she approaches art from an aesthetic perspective, compared to a more academic approach of someone who studied art before - Shelby has never taken an art class in her life. Initially, she started creating for herself, but soon the visitors to her house started requesting the eye-catching paintings until one of them was noticed by a gallery. Shelby discovered that her art was helping not only her, but others saw something new in it as well, regardless of what she intended to depict.
Making Waves, Acrylic on Canvas, 36 x 48 inches, 2026
Shelby Smith’s paintings do not try to tell you how she feels. They do not depict specific objects. There is no message - Shelby believes that half of the equation in experiencing art comes from the viewer. That is also the reason why she does not sign her art in the front - she leaves the paintings to be perceived and interpreted fully by the viewer and it is always a surprise for her to hear what was read in her brushstrokes. “I want it to be an experience between the viewer and the piece”.
Shelby prefers to create large minimalist simplistic paintings. They often feature geometrical forms, symmetry, and evenly toned colors. “I'm not a representational artist. I know what I'm drawn to, and its large-scale, very colorful mathematical compositions in the geometric abstraction category.” Shelby approaches her art architecturally by deciding on the composition with graph paper. As soon as the idea for the painting is decided, Shelby unleashes her arsenal of big compasses, rulers, and straight edge tools. She also strongly prefers to prepare her large canvases herself to ensure they are tight. “Half the time I'm a carpenter”, the artist laughs. Shelby believes her minimalist and precise art has the power to bring peace of mind to the viewer. “There's order in nature, and there's order in math, and I find them very calming”.
One of the most important parts of Shelby’s paintings is color. She talked me through her process: she often starts with adding one color to the composition, and then observes how it starts a conversation with the colors she tries to add next. The artist shared that the colors direct her and although the addition of color is the trickiest part of the process, she finds it the most enjoyable. Shelby learned about the connection between color and mood through her profession by noticing how it affects people through makeup. Bright lipstick would suggest confidence, while a blush would imply health, and Shelby learned that the color would ultimately improve the moods of women wearing the makeup. In her mudroom, where the guests take their shoes off, Shelby placed the brightest pink painting. That is the first thing she and others see when entering her house, and it proves to her every day that colors influence humor greatly. Shelby mixes all the colors herself, none of it is straight out of the tube. She shared that recently she got inspired by the embroidery threads in a store precisely because of their clean pure color that is difficult to achieve with paint. “These threads were so pure, the color was so clean. They had the sheen to them because of the silk in the thread. So I just brought them, and I need to do something with this, because they're just so pretty”.
Some of her other inspiration comes to the artist through the everyday objects. Shelby mentioned modernist furniture when thinking of things that prompt her to create. She gets an architectural digest and is inspired by art deco and the intricate designs of the 1920s. Quite different from that, Shelby also suggested ocean as one of her main creative drivers. She lives by the sea and much of her work has a coastal feel to it. Shelby also shared that she is drawn to artists like Joseph Albers or Frank Stella with their minimal designs that speak through color and do not necessarily appeal to a specific emotion.
Shelby has been recently experimenting with acquired material, as well as linen and fabrics. Her aim is to preserve the feel of her other artworks: “It was important to have something that you see and can tell that it was my work”. It’s unlikely that you would see her working on a landscape painting, she has a strong preference of the geometric style, but is ready to experiment with the mediums. “Sometimes it's not even about making something. It's about figuring something out. Art is like a Rubik's Cube or an equation to me”. For Shelby, art is both therapy and an exciting element of coming up with solutions and ideas. Shelby applies to exhibitions, paints for herself and does commissions, and finds joy in her new lifestyle as a full-time artist. She shared that she feels incredibly lucky and grateful for being able to call art her full-time work and truly enjoys what she is doing. “I'm really appreciative of being able to get up and do something I love. I have the freedom and the time to do it because I was able to reinvent myself and try something new”.
Instagram: @shelbyksmithart
Website: shelbyksmith.com
