About | lucillesmithsonart

Hello

I am predominantly a portrait and figurative realistic painter although I do paint a variety of other subjects too. I enjoy people and I think this translates into my choice of subject. In my portraits I hope to capture not only a good likeness but someone's character, so that even if a person sees the painting without knowing the subject, they will have some sense of them.

Between 2020 and 2022, during the Covid-19 pandemic, I participated in Tom Croft's #portraitsfornhsheroes initiative and painted nurses and doctors in the United Kingdom, the USA, and South Africa. My intention was to give a face and a story to these incredible individuals highlighting how they were working behind the scenes in unimaginably challenging circumstances and putting their lives at risk to help save others. The paintings were presented as gifts to them for their invaluable frontline service. My work was featured on Sky News and mentioned in The Economist.

My painting, entitled Matthew and Sami (a married couple, both doctors in the UK), features in the Portraits for NHS book published by Bloomsbury, 2020.

Exhibitions

2022: SWA - The Society of Women Artists annual exhibition. The Mall Galleries, London UK.

2017: Hampstead School of Art annual exhibition - including a Cass Arts prize for my portrait entitled 'Bea'. Hampstead School of Art, London UK.

My paintings have also been shortlisted for The Royal Society of Portrait Painters annual exhibition, and the Royal Institute of Oil painters annual exhibition - all in London, UK.

As a writer, and someone who sees myself as an evolving artist, I enjoy talking to and asking other artists about their creative process: What makes people create, how they work, where they find inspiration, the things that challenge them, etc. During the pandemic I created an Instagram page called @magic_8_art where I interviewed artists about how they were coping during this time and asking them about their process. The idea originated as a way of creating a sense of connection, community, encouragement and inspiration among artists at a time when many people felt very isolated.

I currently have an ongoing series of portraits that I am working on of fellow artists. The idea is looking behind the canvas to see the faces of makers and during the pandemic it was a way of trying to have a sense of how this strange time in our history was affecting people and their ability to create.

You can also see my previous interviews with artists here and my articles with FG Magazine are here.

For commission enquiries please drop me an email via my contact tab.