Lark Gildermaster Smith

I am, in the truest sense of the word, a “mixed” media artist.  Clay, collage, acrylics, encaustics, watercolors, wood, fiber, printmaking and photography are all tools for me — and yet my favorite medium is clay.  I enjoy its smooth, cool tactile qualities, the challenge of creating in three dimensions and the surprises each time I open my kiln.   I have been working with clay for over 60 years, since I was a child visiting my grandfather.  My mother was an artist so I have always been surrounded by artwork and encouraged to be creative. 

In my art, I enjoy the hand/eye/mind connection that occurs as I work.  The patterns, shapes and textures that I find around me – both in nature and in man-made objects — are my inspirations when I go into my studio.          I take those visual cues and experiment,  translating them into my artwork. An instructor once told me: “My artwork is the pursuit of happiness – not the expectation of bliss.”  This is exactly how I feel – I pursue my artwork because the process is absorbing.  While I work the “outside” temporarily disappears and I am content to simply create.

Lark was born in Illinois and raised in New Orleans. She graduated with a Bachelor of Arts, Magna Cum Laude, from Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, PA. Her career took her from university administrative work to technical documentation and then into a 23-year career as a financial advisor. Now retired, Lark is enjoying the freedom to devote her time and energy to artistic endeavors.