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"Strokes of Genius"

Artist’s eye for details is getting her noticed
by Alison Walker, The Terrell Tribune Sunday, April 2, 2000

Shelley Kolman-Smith once spent her days working on technical drawings, but after the birth of her son, Neil, she decided to redirect her artistic talents/ When he was just two, Smith completed her first pencil portrait. Pleased with the result, Smith continued to focus on pencil sketches over the next seven years.

After a while, Smith was aching to try a new medium and decided to give watercolor a try. Smith said watercolor came fairly easy for her and soon she found herself painting portraits not only of her three children, but also for friends. In the last two or three months, Smith has once again switched mediums after watching oil painting demonstrations at the American Society of Portrait Artists Conventions.

Smith’s portfolio is a testament to her talent, but her Poetry home, virtually a gallery in itself, speaks volumes of her artistic gift. Every room showcases pieces of her work, some finished and others works in progress. Even a wall in the children’s bathroom features hand-painted motherly advice such as “Believe in angels,” and “Flush the potty.”

Although Smith estimates she has completed approximately 150 portraits, few people realize the labor she lovingly devotes to each project.  Smith begins by taking two to three rolls of film, focusing on details such as hands, feet and facial features. She says she normally takes as many rolls as she can, usually stopping only when her subject will not sit still any longer.  After the pictures are developed she posts them up and studies them, picking and choosing features from different photographs.  “I study the photographs and get the painting in my head before I ever start,” Smith said.

Smith said having a mental vision of a painting is particularly critical when she is working with watercolors, because it is both expensive and difficult to make changes.
Her ability to jump from one medium to another with ease somewhat mirrors Smith’s life. When she was growing up her father was in the Air Force so Smith usually spent only three to four years in one place. She lived in Georgia, Texas, New Mexico and California before graduating from high school in New Hope, Miss.

After graduation, Smith entered Texas Tech University, majoring in architecture. She then went to work as a draftsman for Texas Instruments, first in Lubbock and later in Dallas. She also worked for Associated Air Center in Dallas, drawing the insides of airplanes. She even enjoyed a brief stint doing singing telegrams.

After seeing the movie, “An Officer and a Gentleman,” Smith decided to seek a new career.
“I thought boot camp sounded cool.”  Smith quickly dismissed military training because of the long-term commitment, but decided instead to apply with the Dallas Police Department.
After rookie school, she spent three and a half years on patrol before beginning an undercover job at a Dallas high school where she posed as a student. She then had the option to choose her division and settled on a dispatch job. It was in that position she met Patrick Smith, the trainer who would eventually become her husband.

When she met Patrick he already was applying to law school so he could follow in the footsteps of his father and older brother Scott. A year and a half later the couple married and moved to Houston where Patrick attended law school at South Texas College of Law.
Upon his graduation, the couple moved back to Dallas, where Smith joined the law firm with his brother and father. The couple settled in a home on the same street where her husband had lived as a child.

However, after their three children started getting older, the couple decided to simplify and began looking for a place in the country. Since his brother lived in Terrell, the couple decided the area would be a logical place to look. About a year and a half ago, the couple settled on a 14-acre spread in Poetry that they now refer affectionately to a “The Flying Paint Ranch.”
Smith said her husband originally bought the acreage in hopes of developing a landing strip for his plane. However so far, he has remained content with “flying low to the ground” on his tractor.

Although they admit to being “rookies” at country life, Smith said they are enjoying it immensely and keep binoculars and reference books handy so they can watch the birds and other wildlife that flock to the pond outside their back door.

Smith’s artistic talent is not limited to drawing and painting. She also is a gifted quilter and knitter with enough fabric for more than a dozen quilts. However, her flourishing portrait business allows her little time to devote to her other hobbies.

With such a relatively young career, Smith already has received accolades from her fellow artists. Last April, she was name the Southwest Watercolor Society Artist of the Month for a portrait she did of her children.

A few of her pieces are featured at Monticello Gallery near Highland Park. However, her personal goal is to have her works featured in an out-of -state gallery within a year of when she began oil painting.

Smith’s husband and his brother recently relocated their law firm to Mesquite after their dad’s retirement. Now the couple hopes they will have even more family time at the country home they share with two horses, four cows, chickens and two dogs.
Smith is quick to give credit to her family and God. Smith often spends long hours in her small, un-air conditioned studio where she says household obligations are often forgotten and “time stands still.”

She also praises her children, Neil, 12, Emily, 10, and Ellen, 7, who have become expert models. The children, who attend TCA, usually are good natured about their role in their mother’s job, taking it all in stride.

When Smith is not busy tending to the needs of her family or business, she enjoys gardening and has even discovered the secret to thriving flowers - dry pond dirt.
Next week she will begin teaching an art class at Michael’s in Rockwall.
This summer, Smith will embark on a new adventure, teaching art classes at her home one day a week.

When she does find the time Smith admits to at least one more artistic endeavor she would like to try. In her next career, she just may be a sculptor.

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