Surfs Up Print

Artist Statement of Faith & Works and Short Bio Gretchen M. Smith, American Artist b. Muskegon MI (1972-present) tallartist@hotmail.com, 619-780-8209 www.linkedin.com/in/tallartist for professional profile www.facebook.com/tallartist for personal profile www.facebook.com/gretchensmithart for artwork www.facebook.com/gretchensmithministry for ministry projects This link has artwork in a room which shows her art next to furniture to give perspective of size. https://tinyurl.com/artworkinaroom Short Bio Believer, artist, curator, caregiver, missionary, world-changer, intj mastermind, self-taught, usually right, compassionate, revolutionary, oh, and let’s not forget… …rare, elusive, creative, beautiful, 6’1”, female who can go from bathing suit to formal in 60 seconds flat. : ) and she also knows how to raise lobster, make coconut pie on an open fire, play roller derby and stay on a budget! Gretchen M. Smith is an American Artist born in 1972 in Muskegon Michigan and has been producing work professionally for over 20 years. She is the founder of the Christian Art Center and active in several national faith based initiatives related to the arts. In 1997 she went to Kenya and Tanzania Africa and did her first community murals. In 2001 she moved to the middle east and coordinated projects in United Arab Emirates. In 2004. After experiencing 4 hurricanes in Florida, she relocated to Paducah, KY to participate in the Artist Relocation Program which received awards from Unesco Creative Cities Program. In 2013 she moved to Rosarito Mexico where she ran ARThouse Rosarito, an extremely difficult artist-in-residence program. In 2017 she moved to Belize Central America where she currently runs a guest house and does online ministry through facebook to a primary reach of 4500 people and an extended reach of 100000. She focuses on equipping and training up artistic prophets and pastors, particularly in high risk areas such as Africa, Mexico and Belize. Her current artistic focus is writing. Typically her work is categorized as abstract expressionist paintings but she works in many media and basically follows God’s lead. She has has worked on installations and group projects exploring the dynamics of the human interactions of the artists participating in the projects. She seeks to exhibit her work in venues that encourage cultural and religious gaps to be bridged through faith-based abstract visual art. Ms.