Artist, BYU lecturer captures everyday moments in fanciful watercolors

Artist, BYU lecturer captures everyday moments in fanciful watercolors

(Brooke Smart)


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Editor's note:KSL.com does a weekly feature on artists in the community. If you have a painter, sculptor, musician or creative genius in mind, feel free to email your submission to atreasure@ksl.com. Please include a contact email for the artist, if available.SALT LAKE CITY — Each one of Brooke Smart’s intimate portraits feels like a little love letter to the simple, everyday moments and the times they are filled with joy and beauty.

A full-time single mother and artist, Smart illustrates from her Sandy home and teaches two classes as an adjunct instructor at Brigham Young University. Her work has also been featured in LDS publications like “The Friend” and “New Era” magazines — something she said she’s always hoped for.

Smart’s illustrations have also been published in Communication Arts and this year, Smart’s work was recognized among more than 200 portfolios at the New York Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators, garnering two honorable mentions. Additionally, she’s participated in the Springville Spring Salon and the 300 Plates fundraiser show.

Smart grew up in an artistic home. From the time she was a young child, she remembers her father working on designs, painting and drawing at the kitchen table of their home in Sandy. Encouraged by her parents to “draw and draw and draw,” she said a big part of her identity has always been linked to art, even when she struggled staying motivated to pursue it in high school.

“I had a few hiccups in high school, as far as motivation to continue on with my art, but I had a teacher, Sydney Bowman, who turned everything around and made me love it again,” she said. “That love pushed me to get my BFA in Illustration from Brigham Young University and pursue a career as an artist.”

Brooke Smart's "Bringing Up Baby" series looks at her life with her daughter. (Photo: Brooke Smart)
Brooke Smart's "Bringing Up Baby" series looks at her life with her daughter. (Photo: Brooke Smart)

After working as a fine artist who painted oil portraits and later becoming a mother, she turned to illustration and quick-drying watercolors out of practicality, Smart said.

“As it turns out, my love of people translates very well into my illustration work. I love being an illustrator,” she said. “It's completely different than what I was trained in, but I love telling stories, especially stories that are relatable and dear to my heart, like the stories I'm telling with my Bringing Up Baby series, which deal with the day-to-day experiences I have with my 3-year-old daughter.”

Many of her portraits look at the fleeting moments in our lives: a mother and baby entranced at the same moment by a fishbowl, the moment the gardener assesses the roots of a succulent before planting it in its new home, a piggy-tailed toddler in repose. Smart catches these portraits of people and moments in time with a sweetness and attention to texture and pattern that nods to her training.

Find Brooke Smart here ---->
Follow:Instagram.com/BrookeSmartIllustration
View:Brooke-Smart.com

“I hope that they convey a sense of whimsy and life. Posing them in traditional poses, but doing it in a stylized style, I think, makes them more playful” Smart said. “... I want these portraits to tell a story, even though the pose of the person is stationary.

Now, Smart is working on her first picture book — a direction she hopes to take her art moving forward.

“I love the idea of creating beautiful, fun, creative books that can be enjoyed by children,” she said. “Books have always been such a big part of my own life and I think the books we read as children can really influence who we are, and can serve as a lovely and fun way to escape our own lives for a bit. I'd love my artwork to be a part of that world.”


![Celeste Tholen](http://img.ksl.com/slc/2588/258877/25887704\.jpg?filter=ksl/65x65)
About the Author: Celeste Tholen --------------------------------

Celeste is the former Deputy Managing Editor at KSL.com and now works in marketing. She spends most of her spare time balancing conflicting interests in the outdoors and movies/television.You can follow Celeste on Twitter: @CelesteTholen

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