An art show starting Nov. 20 in the Farrell Learning and Teaching Center atrium features two painters who are mother and daughter. The artists, Leona Kremen and her daughter Paula Smith, trained at the Maryland Institute of Art and studied with prominent Baltimore modernist Herman Maril.
Paula Smith is married to Morton Smith, M.D., Professor Emeritus of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences and Associate Dean Emeritus. “Art has been very important to our family through three generations,” Dr. Smith says.
In her studies, Kremen was greatly influenced by color theory and abstract painting. She chose to work in casein paint, which has a base of milk protein and has been used since ancient Egyptian times. Artists value casein painting because even though it is water-based, its effect is similar to oil-based paint.
While caring for her family, Kremen painted on an easel that she would set up in her dining room and take down at dinnertime. She never had a studio, nor was she represented in a gallery. In spite of this, she got her work into regional shows at the Baltimore Museum of Art, the Peale Museum in Baltimore and the Corcoran Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. Kremen died in 1996.
Paula Smith started drawing at the age of three and went to Saturday classes at the Maryland Institute of Art from ages 10 to 12. For several summers during her high school years, Paula studied with Herman Maril along with her mother. She showed her art in regional shows at the Baltimore Museum of Art and the Peale Museum.
Later she studied art at Carnegie Institute of Technology (now Carnegie Mellon University). She had a job in advertising and graphic design for several years before leaving to raise a family. Then she returned to college, taking classes toward a degree in painting and design, which she earned in 1983. After graduating, she was again employed as a graphic designer.
In 1991, Paula left the advertising field and took up watercolor painting, sharing a studio with artist son, Brian Smith. She had a solo show at the Ethical Society of St. Louis. At the suggestion of her mother, she began using pastels on watercolor paper. All of Paula’s work in this show is done with pastels and reflects a keen interest in nature.
“My mother and I never really shared our painting experiences because we worked in different fields,” Paula Smith says. “I didn’t think I was influenced by my mom until after she died, and I received her paintings. Then I could recognize her influence, which must have come through a sort of osmosis.”