About Me

“I want to walk and step slightly left, I want to live in the lavender spaces…”

These words written by artist Sidonie Cheryl Smith describe her transition from a predominately left brain world into the land of right brain creativity and freedom.  After retirement, Dr. Smith began artistic exploration at Santa Monica Emeritus College with artists Ruth San Pietro, Bruce Trentham, Lynn Goodwin and Mary Pillot.

Dr. Smith is sharing her passion and artistic perspective of our world through her use of vibrant colors and bold strokes in figure studies, landscapes, multimedia pieces, and her still life studies.  Her faces are riveting with intensity and passion we all carry to navigate this life.   These pieces shown here utilize the mediums of charcoal, pastel, acrylic, collage, pen and ink.

Featured in this showing are several pieces from the “Slavery: Another Name for Freedom” series.  The special “Slavery By Another Name” recently aired by PBS inspires these pieces.  The haunting images are a reminder of the legacy of slavery that manifests in the industrial prison complex system, which still to this day, continues to utilize convict labor to capitalize major corporations.  Immediately following emancipation of the slaves the need for cheap labored continued.  A system was devised to acquire prison labor at little or no cost through the Black Codes and plea-bargaining, which often resulted in imprisonment for life, the criminalization of Black people, and a skewed penal code.  These pieces give voice to this outrageous system and to those caught in it and to those ancestors who scream from the graves, “Never forget, Never forget!”

Here is a comment to share:

This letter refers to my valued and harmonious friends Sidonie Smith.  She is a woman gifted in so many areas.  Her passion is her artistic expressions, both as a sculptor, painter, and singer.  He art speaks of societal injustices and reminds us to reflect upon and remedy those injustices.  She also has loved the joint gospel venture she has shared with others over the years.  She has shared so much beyond anyone else’s efforts to bring a wonderful showing of her paintings.  As you enjoy your viewing, think of this woman’s dedication to harmony, justice and peace

Richard A. Larson