THE INSPIRATION PLACE PODCAST
Tiare Smith:
You might not be able to define what it is, but you know there’s something happening.
Miriam Schulman:
Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Tiare Smith:
So there was something happening and a desire; and I just started feeling like, “I don’t want to feel that. I don’t want to avoid that anymore.” I felt like I was traumatized at college, so I just didn’t want to deny myself that any longer.
Speaker 3:
It’s the Inspiration Place Podcast, with artist Miriam Schulman. Welcome to the Inspiration Place Podcast, an art world insider podcast for artists by an artist, where each week we go behind the scenes to uncover the perspiration and inspiration behind the arts. And now your host, Miriam Schulman.
Miriam Schulman:
Well, hello, my Passion Maker. This is Miriam Schulman, your curator of inspiration. And you’re listening to Episode number 179 of the Inspiration Place Podcast. I am so grateful that you’re here. Today, we’re talking to a very inspiring figurative artist.
Miriam Schulman:
But before we dive into today’s show, I wanted to let you know that the Inspiration Place is having its first ever student art show. We invited all of our Watercolor Portrait Academy alumni to submit a portrait; and over 24 artists raised their hands, and said, “Yes. I want to share my art.” Now, because there’s so many talented portrait and figurative artists inside the Artist Incubator Program, who were not necessarily watercolor portrait students, I wanted to highlight their art as well. So I handpicked a few of the Artist Incubator artists, and you’ll see their art on that page. So if you want to go see it, go to schulmanart.com/salon. You’ll also see today’s guest, her art, and she’s a figurative artist; you’ll see that on the page as well. So again, go to schulmanart.com/salon.
Miriam Schulman:
Today’s guest is a mixed media artist and instructor born with art in her heart. And she’s been creating as long as she can remember. Her preferred choice of mediums are ink, acrylics, and pastels. Her art breathes color and love, and creates a space where happiness, love, and courage dwell. Her work has been featured on HGTV, Huffington Post, Faber-Castell, Deco Art, and in numerous other magazines and blogs.
Miriam Schulman:
Her art was born from growing up in a wonderful community, which is why her art exists. Her art tells the story of community, strength, courage, love, and female empowerment. She inspires creatives to embrace their inner artist, while also nurturing their hearts and memories. Please welcome to the Inspiration Place, Tiare Smith. Well, hey there, welcome to the show.
Tiare Smith:
Hi. Thank you. So glad to be here.
Miriam Schulman:
I am so excited to dive in, and learn all about your origin story and all the things. So, first of all, I know you told me you grew up in Chicago.
Tiare Smith:
Mm-hmm (affirmative). Yep. Sure did.
Miriam Schulman:
So when did you come to Atlanta?
Tiare Smith:
In 2003.
Miriam Schulman:
Okay. So you’ve been there for, I’m trying to do math now…
Tiare Smith:
18 years.
Miriam Schulman:
That’s a long time.
Tiare Smith:
18 years.
Miriam Schulman:
That’s a long time. And we’re not going to try to figure out how old you are, not that there’s any shame in it.
Tiare Smith:
Yeah.
Miriam Schulman:
But tell us about your childhood in Chicago; because I know you talk about in the introduction when we said your artist statement is, you say your art was born from growing up in a wonderful community. So I’m sure where you grew up had a big impact on your art; and I’d like to hear more about that.
Tiare Smith:
Yes, it did. So I grew up in an area of Chicago on the North Side, called Rogers Park. The thing for me, is that I just felt like it was like the best childhood. There was just so much love and togetherness in my community. It was very diverse. But the thing that I remember most is the growing and the love from African-American women, which is why they are depicted in my art. So I’m talking about the people who nurtured me, who cared for me: my teachers, and it wasn’t all of them, it was specific teachers, my mom, my neighbors, my friends, and my current friends.
Tiare Smith:
So I lived in that neighborhood from second grade through college, actually. You grow up in that neighborhood, you grow up with the same people, and you have all of these people that I called multiple people mom. So I just felt very nurtured, very loved, very cared for. If I was ever outside and I needed someone, we knew our neighbors. So if my mother wasn’t home, then my neighbors were always available to me.
Tiare Smith:
I had a teacher who not only helped me in high school, to go to prepare for college. But even when I finished college, she actually helped me get my first job. So she was very active in my life; so that’s how I feel about the women. They were very active and nurturing and loving. And not that there weren’t any struggles; there were plenty of struggles. But the understory and the prevailing story and feeling for me was love.
Tiare Smith:
And so, my art to me, is sort of honoring not only myself, but all of these different people in different areas of my life. It tells their story. It tells our story. It breathes, like I said, love and courage. I had to see it all, but again, I just felt love. I just felt love. My dad passed away when I was only five years old, so it was a lot of women that just stood in place in community, who I felt loved by.
Miriam Schulman:
We have that in common, Tiare. Did you know my father passed away when I was five also?
Tiare Smith:
Wow. No, I didn’t.
Miriam Schulman:
Yeah. So, it was my maternal grandmother who sometimes I say, that’s where I get my strength from… Not my maternal grandmother, my father’s mother.
Tiare Smith:
Okay.
Miriam Schulman:
She kind of stepped, so that’s paternal. So she had stepped in, and she was a very powerful influence in my life. And I think because had lost her son, and her son had two daughters, I think she kind of wanted to see us carry on his legacy. So that was a very… So anyway, we have that in common. I want to make this episode be about you, though.
Tiare Smith:
Okay.
Miriam Schulman:
So let’s talk about art in your childhood. So you said you’ve always been painting, but was that something you always knew you wanted to make a career out of? Or were you doing it more for yourself?
Tiare Smith:
Okay. So, of course, when you’re little, like when I was little coloring and drawing and doing all the things, I didn’t think about it in that way. But at some I did; I thought of art, and I thought of teaching. So there were two things I wanted do; but honestly, I was discouraged from both of those, because of course, when you think of art, people think starving artists. When you think of teaching, people say, “Teachers don’t make any money.”
Tiare Smith:
So I went to school for accounting, and I was great. Accounting, I was a straight-A, honor roll student. But I could not stand the numbers, and constantly working with numbers. So then I switched to marketing. So I have my degree in marketing, but still, you go into the workforce, you do your thing, and you don’t feel fulfilled, is what happens to you.
Tiare Smith:
Now, in college, my last year of college, I actually took an art class. I was being a smart butt, I will call it. I took French and art my last year of college, because I had two years of French in high school, so I figured French would be easy. And I already knew how to draw and everything, so I figured the art class would be easy.
Tiare Smith:
Well, the art class sucked the life out of me. It took all of my inspiration right out of me, because I was not interested in learning or doing the lessons. They weren’t inspiring. So for 18 years, you might not know that about me; for 18 years, I put my pencil down.
Miriam Schulman:
Oh, wow.
Tiare Smith:
It just sucked me dry. And then, it was a very emotional day when I finally decided to pick up my pencil and draw again. I scrapbooked, so I did create; but I didn’t get back to art or drawing or anything for 18 years.
Miriam Schulman:
Wow. Yeah. So, my daughter, the one who is a music teacher, she cannot stand art classes, even though she likes to create art. And she just doesn’t like to be told what do, creatively. Yeah. Which actually, I think, is the mark of a true artist; you have your own ideas of what you want to do.
Tiare Smith:
Yeah. Yeah.
Miriam Schulman:
Tiare, I want you to take me to that moment when you did… What drove you to finally pick up that pencil again? What was that moment?
Tiare Smith:
Well, of course, I told you I was scrapbooking.
Miriam Schulman:
Okay.
Tiare Smith:
And cardmaking. So I was doing things that were creative, but the internet puts a lot of stuff in front of you. And so, I started seeing more and more art, and meeting more people in different creative areas. And I started seeing people who were painting and who were drawing. And it just started feeling like, “Oh, I used to do that.”
Miriam Schulman:
And this was around the time you moved to Atlanta, I’m imagining. Is that correct?
Tiare Smith:
Well, no.
Miriam Schulman:
I’m trying to think of a date on the scrapbooking craze versus… Okay.
Tiare Smith:
So the scrapbooking craze, I actually had my first business, which was in… I moved here in 2003. In 2004, I started a company called Classy Coordinates, which was a scrapbook kit club. I ended that in 2010, because there was a housing bust then, discretionary income was going down; so I stopped up doing that.
Tiare Smith:
I picked up my pencil in 2014, so four years later. And the moment that happened, again, I was watching and seeing everyone doing this; and you know. You’re a artist. It turns inside of you. You might not be able to define what it is, but you know there’s something happening.
Tiare Smith:
So there was something happening and a desire. And I just started feeling like, “I don’t want to feel that. I don’t want avoid that anymore.” I felt like I was traumatized in college, so I just didn’t want to deny myself that any longer. And so, one day literally, I picked up the pencil, and I just started drawing. And I cried tremendous tears in that moment; it just was like whoosh. It was an amazing, tearful moment.
Miriam Schulman:
Hmm.
Tiare Smith:
And it got, for me-
Miriam Schulman:
Like a religious experience.
Tiare Smith:
Yeah. It was crazy. But that just was… I held back on that for so long.
Miriam Schulman:
You were really suppressing, repressing, and denying that desire in yourself.
Tiare Smith:
Exactly. Yeah.
Miriam Schulman:
Yeah. That’s something actually a lot of women do, especially in this country. It’s from the Puritans, that we’re taught, “It’s not okay to desire money, sex, and power.”
Tiare Smith:
Right. Yeah. Yep.
Miriam Schulman:
And art is all of those things.
Tiare Smith:
All of those things. Yeah. Yeah. So I am… I can’t even express how free that moment made me, and how free the years since then have felt to me.
Miriam Schulman:
Wow. It’s beautiful. Let’s take a moment. All right. So now, I want you to describe your art that you make. So, the figurative art that you make now, is that what you were making eight years ago, or has that evolved over time?
Tiare Smith:
I’m going to say that the angels probably were already there. So yeah, it’s evolved in that I just… I didn’t… I first started off, and I really did angels. I art journaled and did angels. And so, it’s evolved to a bit more of abstract; if you could see that one over there, with the pink and the orange.
Miriam Schulman:
Yeah. Why don’t you describe that artwork as if you were describing it to a blind person, because it’s a podcast.
Tiare Smith:
Okay. It’s a podcast.
Miriam Schulman:
We will have a video on Instagram.
Tiare Smith:
Okay.
Miriam Schulman:
For people who are listening right now, if you want to go check out Tiare, you can find on my channel also. Let me just give you her channel; so she’s @tiaresmithart. Are there any dots in between the words?
Tiare Smith:
No. Nope.
Miriam Schulman:
So one word, tiaresmithart.
Tiare Smith:
And it’s T-I-A-R-Esmith.art. I mean, smithart. Right.
Miriam Schulman:
Yes. Right. It’s pronounced T-R, like the two letters, but T-I-A-R-E.
Tiare Smith:
Right.
Miriam Schulman:
And you can also find her on my channel. I’ll be highlighting a snippet of the video. So @schulmanart. Some of today’s podcast video will be over there. Okay. So describe the… And what is the title of that painting with the two women in it, with the orange and pink?
Tiare Smith:
That title… You know what, Miriam? You put me on the spot.
Miriam Schulman:
Sorry. Okay. So it’s new. It’s not titled yet.
Tiare Smith:
It’s new. Right. So I’m just like… No. I’m sorry. It is. I believe it’s Moonlight Magic, but I’m…
Miriam Schulman:
Because there are going to be people who are going to be wanting to collect it, and they need to be able to tell you which one. So it is…
Tiare Smith:
So I’m going to describe it. I will know which one. Okay?
Miriam Schulman:
It might be Moonlight Magic.
Tiare Smith:
It’s Magic… Magic is in the title. I just can’t remember.
Miriam Schulman:
Perfect.
Tiare Smith:
I’m sorry.
Miriam Schulman:
All right.
Tiare Smith:
Anyway, so basically I call them figurative. The dress is… The dresses are orange and pink, two ladies, orange and pink. It looks like a mother and daughter, but it could be sisters, it could be friends. And the dresses are very, I call swatches, what I call swatch art. So they are not defined with definition. They’re much more flowy, much more free, much more like a splattering of paint and color. So that style has developed over time, more than my angels. So the angels are where they started, then dresses with more defined, and dancers and then more abstract women with abstract dresses. So it has transformed over the years, yeah. And I think my style has been more defined in those eight years.
Miriam Schulman:
Okay. So I’m going to talk about… I love that one that you just described. But there’s one just behind you, where it’s a single figure, she’s wearing a blue dress. And I want to say that those are white, would they be pansies?
Tiare Smith:
Okay. So when I do flowers, I literally try to just do what I think is a flower, without defining it as a specific flower.
Miriam Schulman:
Yeah.
Tiare Smith:
So I…
Miriam Schulman:
Yeah. It has the shape of a pansy, but I don’t think I’ve ever seen a white pansy.
Tiare Smith:
Right.
Miriam Schulman:
And it’s stunning. So I love this one, because it has… Not I… By saying that, I don’t mean I didn’t love the other one. But what I particularly love about this one is, I love the limited color palette you chose, because the background is blue, the dress is blue, and then the flowers, there’s three very strong flowers that are white with blue shading. And then it’s a small blue flower in her hair. Is that right?
Tiare Smith:
Mm-hmm (affirmative). Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Miriam Schulman:
And then there’s a dragonfly. So, do you have symbolism? Does the dragonfly represents something? Do the flowers represent something? Or are you just painting joy and beauty?
Tiare Smith:
Okay. For me, dragonflies have always been important. Well, not always, but as an artist, and even since Classy Coordinates, because dragonflies for me, are transformation.
Miriam Schulman:
Yeah.
Tiare Smith:
So, it’s a part of who I am. You will see dragonflies in my art, in my low roll, just all different parts of my life. I have dragonflies in my house. So that is there because transformation. And of course, as an African-American woman, the dragonfly, it all means something to me, because again, I’m representing my life; and my art represents all the different experiences. So I paint no faces all the time, because I don’t like to define them. Because I feel like my art represents a melding of people and personality; so there’s not quite a definition. It’s not me. It’s not my mother. It’s not my teacher. It’s not my aunt. It’s not my friend. It’s all of them within me, and all of them representing women, all different kinds of women; so there’s no faces. So the transformation has to do with that story too, because we go through life, we learn, we change, we grow, we transform. So dragonflies are always in that.
Tiare Smith:
Then, as far as the flowers are concerned, honestly, I just love flowers. Flowers are beauty, flowers are growth. They change. They go away in the winter, they come back in the spring. So there’s some transformation, there’s growth, there’s renewal; so all of that is represented.
Miriam Schulman:
That’s really, really beautiful. So one thing I just want to share about dragonflies that not everyone, all the boys and girls who are at home listening may not know, is they start off life as a beetle. And so, butterflies start off life as a caterpillar; dragonflies start off life as a beetle. And so, often dragonflies are used to represent life after death, because there is a complete evolution from a beetle to a dragonfly. And it is a very powerful symbol to use in your art. Thank you for sharing that.
Miriam Schulman:
One thing that I wanted to comment, and again, I’m talking about out the… Do you have a title yet for that blue dress painting?
Tiare Smith:
Yes. That’s Bronzed with Elegance.
Miriam Schulman:
Nice. Okay. All right. So, Bronzed with Elegance. One thing that’s really nice about that painting, as well as all the paintings that I’m seeing on your wall, is that the flowers don’t overpower the figure. The figure is the strongest element; like the dragon flight doesn’t overpower. So it’s not… It could have been a different kind of painting, where the figure is a smaller element. We’ve seen that, like a fairy on a huge flower. But the strongest element in your paintings is the figure, is the woman in the painting. She dominates. The flowers do not compete with her at all. And that is a really nice way that you’ve communicated women’s strength in your paintings.
Tiare Smith:
Thank you.
Miriam Schulman:
Can you talk about the hair?
Tiare Smith:
I can. Honestly, I just love black hair, African-American hair. Now, people can’t see me, but I cut off all my hair. I used to have a whole bunch of hair, but I’ve chosen to cut it off. But I love big afros. I love the versatility of black hair. I love the bigness. It, for me, is just like… Another theme that is in my art is freedom. And the big hair feels very free. It feels free and playful and beautiful and gorgeous and representative of African-American women. I just love it. It’s just one of those things. I loved afros and afro puffs, and just all the big freedom and fun of that hair.
Miriam Schulman:
Yeah, you’re really celebrating what’s beautiful about a black woman.
Tiare Smith:
Yes. Definitely.
Miriam Schulman:
Okay. All right. So now I want to just change gears just a bit, and I want to hear about your teaching. So what kind of art do you teach? Do you teach people how to do angels? Is it scrapbooking? Is it art journaling?
Tiare Smith:
So, scrapbooking is gone. We should show that.
Miriam Schulman:
I made a face that the boys and girls can’t see at home. Yeah, scrapbooking. Is that completely gone, or is it still a thing?
Tiare Smith:
People do still scrapbook. And I will, when I get with my friends who scrapbook, I’ll scrapbook; but it’s not… I don’t… That’s very rare.
Miriam Schulman:
That trend is gone. Right?
Tiare Smith:
Yeah. Yeah. There are people who still like it, but scrapbooking is-
Miriam Schulman:
It’s too much work.
Tiare Smith:
It’s work and space. The space is really, the scrapbooks are humongous. What are you going to do with all that stuff? So I teach, I do teach angels, and I teach art journaling. So most of the time, it’s mixed media art journaling. And I will teach figures sometimes, like the angels or dancers or whatever. But most often, it is mixed media art journaling, and it is to help people to express themselves more, to… Art journaling is very good when you’re dealing with whatever emotions that you’re dealing with. Sometimes it’s happiness. Sometimes it’s sadness. Sometimes, you know what? You just need to make art. So I do teach classes that just teach people all the different kind of techniques and tools and different things that they can do in their art journaling, and help them to be free with either expressing themselves; or if they are a creative, trying to let loose, to help them loosen up, and sort of experience their creativity more freely.
Miriam Schulman:
And how long have you been teaching?
Tiare Smith:
Teaching art journaling, probably since 2015; but I’ve been teaching creatively since maybe 2000, 1999, 2000, somewhere around there.
Miriam Schulman:
Yeah.
Tiare Smith:
Yeah. Because I used to teach scrapbooking, of course. I’ve taught card making and mini albums, and all kinds of different things in creativity. Yeah.
Miriam Schulman:
Yeah. What I love about art journaling, and for those who aren’t familiar, it’s really just creating a sketchbook practice. And for some people, art journaling can mean something different that you’re journaling with art as well. But it’s super important for us as artists, that there’s… We are one of the few creative disciplines where we don’t have a formal warmup.
Miriam Schulman:
So, a musician will go into practice, and they’ll do the scales. They’ll warm up before they go to perform. A dancer will go into the studio, and they’ll do plies before they go perform. They don’t just walk out on the stage and perform Swan Lake without warming up first.
Miriam Schulman:
And yet, as artists, a lot of times we put that pressure on ourselves, that when we go into the studio to create, we’re going to perform Swan Lake with no kind of warm up.
Tiare Smith:
Correct.
Miriam Schulman:
So it’s really important whether it is an artisanal practice, or you have some other way of kind of slowly bringing yourself into your art each time. It’s very difficult just to plop yourself down, and expect yourself to perform without any kind of warmup at all.
Tiare Smith:
I agree. I totally agree. And it’s just a great way to play and learn techniques. And like you said, not just go into creating a piece of art. There’s so much that I learn in my art journal that I can later maybe use in my art.
Miriam Schulman:
Yeah. Because you’re not… When you’re creating something, sometimes it’s hard to experiment, because you’re thinking about how much you spent on the canvas, or where this is going. And when you’re in the art journal, you become more free, because it’s just for you.
Tiare Smith:
Right.
Miriam Schulman:
And so, we tend to experiment more. Tell us about the workshop that you offer. And this is going to air in February. And so, I’m assuming your course, One Badass Art Journal is available in February, 2022. Is that right?
Tiare Smith:
Absolutely.
Miriam Schulman:
Okay.
Tiare Smith:
Yeah.
Miriam Schulman:
So tell us about that class, Tiare.
Tiare Smith:
Okay. So One Badass Art Journal, it’s a mixed media art journal class. It’s a class where we’ll actually create, so we’ll make a handmade journal together. So I’m like, “We’re going to make a badass journal, and then we’re going to fill it up with badass art.”
Tiare Smith:
And people like to ask what badass art is. And badass art really, to me, is as you define it, the artist. So each person in the class, you define it. It’s your art. It’s what you’re bringing to the table. But badass asks you to embrace, to empower, to encourage that inner badass, and just let her out, or him out. And that is just basically asking you to just meet yourself on the page, do what you want, feel free with it. Don’t hold back. Don’t compare yourself; comparison is the thief of joy.
Tiare Smith:
Just come in, do these lessons, follow them if you want, change them up if you want. It’s really about empowering you to be free to let go, to do what you want, and to put your art in a journal, and not worry about it. You’re going to learn techniques, but we’re all going to be constantly encouraging students to let go, let her come out and play. Okay? You’re inner badass.
Miriam Schulman:
Okay.
Tiare Smith:
We all that.
Miriam Schulman:
Now, if you want to check out Tiare’s Art Journal Class, just go to schulmanart.com/badass, and you’ll learn all about her Art Journal class. And don’t forget, if you want to check out the Portrait Art Show, you’ll see art done by students of Watercolor Portrait Academy, as well as art done by Artist Incubator clients like Tiare Smith and others. To see that, go to schulmanart.com/salon.
Miriam Schulman:
All righty, Tiare, do you have any last words for my listeners before we call this podcast complete?
Tiare Smith:
Yeah. I’m just going to say to anyone out there that wants to be an artist, or that is just playing in the art journal. Just enjoy the process. Don’t get caught up on the results all the time. Sometimes you have to let go, you have to play, you have to be free, and let your own voice be heard on the page or the canvas.
Miriam Schulman:
That’s beautiful. All right, my friend. Thank you so much for being with me here today. I’ll see you the same time, same place, next week. Stay inspired.
Speaker 3:
Thank you for listening to the Inspiration Place Podcast. Connect with us on Facebook, at facebook.com/schulmanart, on Instagram @schulmanart, and of course, on schulmanart.com.
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