Funny Artist Erin Smith

I get to meet all kinds of artists, from those that do very serious, even museum quality art work to those whose work is just as valid but who are totally off the charts as far as what goes on in their heads.

Erin Smith is one of the latter.

When I was in New York a few weeks ago I got the chance to talk to her.

Erin is never at a loss for words, (you know, the behind the hand, under the breath witticism that everyone in hearing distance pretends they didn't hear while snickering anyway?), after the birth of her second son, her sleep deprived, over worked restaurant server persona...um...changed. She pretty much decided that people needed to face the music, and hear what she had to say.

Overwhelmingly, people all over the world have embraced her sentiments, with shocked gasps of... "I thought it was just ME!"

Inspired by the family photo album her grandmother gave her, erin combines her family photos (really!!), with vintage photography, acrylics, ink, paper, found objects, original paintings and digital media. The heart of each is the prose, which is the sometimes meandering, sometimes concise, lyrics of a day in the life of the artist and mother and wife.

Fueled by sarcasm, the desire for a drama free life, and knowing that taking it 'one day at a time' is a euphemism for a typical day being an iceberg instead of warm sand and a rum drink... she is like you and needs to see as much humor in the day as she can.

This definitely helps melt the iceberg... however it doesn't walk the dog, buy birthday presents, do the laundry, go grocery shopping, buy the kids clothes, get more milk, make dinner, help chaperone field trips, ... it does help be a wife and mother that loves wine and martinis and wouldn't trade any of it for the world. 

We've carried some of Erin Smith's work in the form of coasters but we now have her note cards and magnets as well.