Mavis
by Michele Malinchak
The Belgian surrealist artist, René Magritte once said, “The mind loves the unknown. It loves images whose meaning is unknown, since the meaning of the mind itself is unknown.”
Perhaps it is for this reason that viewers are drawn to the paintings of Mavis Smith. Her unique style of painting may captivate and confuse at the same time. Best known for her evocative portraits, her surreal subjects are veiled in mystery, often appearing in dreamlike settings that suggest hidden stories. They live in a world where fantasy and reality coexist, one in which we can easily get lost.
In “Bayou,” pictured here, an imaginary camping scene is transformed into a swirling water world. We wonder if the subject is sleep walking or fully awake as she gazes down at the floating candles.
Some clues are thrown our way, but the images in her work remain a puzzle. We can only imagine what the subjects are looking at with their cryptic expressions but sense that something lurks beneath their calm exteriors—something unseen we’d like to uncover but can’t.
To quote Magritte again, “Everything we see hides another thing, we always want to see what is hidden by what we see.”
Instead of depicting specific people or events, it’s the deeper unknown that intrigues Mavis. “I don’t really go out of my way to be mysterious in my paintings,” she said. “There is no message, I just want people to be provoked into looking closer.”
The style of her work is reminiscent of Renaissance paintings which she admires for their luminous quality, but she doesn’t want to duplicate them. Instead, she tries to transcend the idea of portrait painting, inviting us to discover more than the figures themselves.
The subjects, usually women, have alluring almond-shaped eyes and remind one of Botticelli’s art, but her portraits are clearly contemporary. Their skin seems to glow from within, so soft and real that you can imagine the capillaries lying just beneath.
Adding to the mystery are the objects they often hold in their hands. In “Love Lost” a woman grips a hand saw at her side, while in “Snow Banquette” a young girl cradles a baby monkey against a snowy backdrop.
Many of the subjects appear in rooms with views of distant landscapes. Perspective is often used to create depth by taking us far back into the painting.
Water features are prominent in several of her works, especially illuminated swimming pools. “I have always found bodies of water intriguing,” she said. “I love to swim and be near the ocean or in a beautiful pool. Also, water symbolizes cleansing and rebirth.”
Mavis paints using egg tempera, a fast drying, challenging medium that produces layers of luminous color. The technique was always of interest to her, and in 2002, she took a two-week workshop at the Seattle Academy of Fine Art while visiting her sister there. The instructor, Koo Schadler, is renowned in her field and teaches workshops across the US and abroad.
Tempera paintings date back to Egyptian times and are extremely durable. In widespread use during the Renaissance, the technique was later replaced by more versatile oil paints. During the 20th century they regained popularity and were used by artists such as Andrew Wyeth, Thomas Hart Benton, Robert Vickrey and George Tooker.
The natural pigments of the paint come in powdered form and are derived from carbon and minerals. Mavis demonstrated how to mix them with egg yolk and a bit of water. She can keep the mixture in a jar with additional water for about two days in the fridge, but generally makes a fresh batch daily. The medium perfectly suits her tendency towards meticulous detail and allows her to capture intricate details from fine wisps of hair to the tiniest eyelashes.
Mavis paints on Masonite panels which she makes herself. They are set on a wooden base and then coated with gesso. Unlike acrylic gesso, this recipe consists of boiled rabbit skin glue and powdered chalk. After the panel is dry she sands it until it’s velvety smooth. She has tried buying ready-made panels but is particular about the surface she paints on.
As if the preparation wasn’t labor intensive enough, the painting process itself is slow and long. After she lightly sketches in the pose with pencil or a dry brush, she begins by gradually building up layers of paint, alternating between dry, feathery brush strokes and sheer washes of color. The same back and forth motion is used repeatedly. “The process can be tedious or mesmerizing, depending on how you look at it,” she said. “At some point in the process, I’m in a very relaxed, almost hypnotic state and very receptive to the images and feelings that become the painting.”
Often a hundred or more of layers of paint are applied and each layer of paint affects the one beneath. She works on one painting at a time, getting drawn into each. A single painting can take as long as two months to finish.
Sometimes she paints from live models, but due to the length of the painting process, she usually works from photographs.
“There is a stylization when you work in egg tempera,” she said. “You can’t manipulate the paint as you can with oils—it’s more like drawing. The figures appear stiff and static because you can’t imply motion,” adding, “I don’t want them too realistic.”
Born in 1956 in Trenton, NJ, Mavis’ life has always revolved around art. She also grew up there and had a grandmother who painted as a hobby. Since she was two Mavis remembers people asking her to draw things because of her natural ability. Her kindergarten teacher recognized her talent and encouraged Mavis’ parents to cultivate it which they did. “My parents were most supportive,” she said.
Every Saturday her mother took Mavis for art lessons at Mercer County Community College (formerly Trenton Junior College). The classes were varied and geared for young students. Mavis attended them for years, up until the time she began college.
She went on to attend the Pratt Institute in NY from 1973-1977. While studying there, she made soft sculptures using fabric and similar material. One day the display director from Charles Jourdan Shoes visited the school and saw Mavis’ sculptures. She asked if she could display some in the store windows alongside the exclusive shoes.
Other people noticed the sculptures, including a visitor from the Netherlands who was passing by the store. He invited Mavis to exhibit at his gallery in Amsterdam. While there, she met the man’s daughter who wrote children’s books and asked Mavis to illustrate one. They worked together on the project and Mavis returned home to finish the watercolor illustrations. The book, “Ik en Jij” which means “Me and You,” was published in 1980. A couple of years later they worked together on a second book.
What followed was a lucrative career as a children’s book illustrator during which she illustrated and occasionally wrote over 70 books.
For years Mavis did the watercolor illustrations for the popular “Fluffy the Guinea Pig” series by author Kate McMullan. The 40-page books were published four to six times a year and kept her working. She also illustrated “McGraw’s Emporium” by Jim Aylesworth using collage and watercolor.
Between illustrating jobs, she worked as a receptionist at an architectural firm and later as a physician’s assistant. She had a loft on 6th Avenue and 29th Street in the city’s plant district recalling, “It was lush and colorful.”
Working as an illustrator taught her two invaluable skills that she still relies on today. “One is discipline,” she said, “working with set parameters and deadlines. The other is problem solving, coming up with creative concepts.” Because her work is based on inner thoughts, her work as an illustrator has helped fuel her imagination.
When the Fluffy books ended around 2006, she decided to focus full-time on her art.
For years she had kept a small studio in NY but was drawn to the artistic community of New Hope. Eventually she relocated and has been living in Bucks County for the past 20 years.
Mavis enjoys experimenting and tries not to duplicate her work. In addition to portraits she paints landscapes, still life and creates collages. Recently her “Thicket” series are large works in oil and graphite. Quite different in scale and subject matter, they depict twisted roots and branches of trees that seemingly have no beginning or end. She first got the idea while on vacation in Sedona, AZ where she saw enormous dead trees you could actually walk through. She took photos and later enhanced and exaggerated their features. Now she uses local vines along the Delaware Canal tow path for inspiration.
Looking for a way to utilize all those leftover egg shells, she started making mosaics with them on flat river rocks. The rocks were then arranged on tree bark that she coated with two-part epoxy polyurethane and together they create a unique natural sculpture.
Mavis has had several solo exhibitions abroad and in the tristate area including the Payne Gallery at Moravian College and the Michener Art Museum. Brian Peterson, former Gerry and Marguerite Lenfest curator at the Michener said of her work, “These pictures tend to stay with you, if you let them in.” One of her paintings, “Sink or Swim,” is in the Michener’s permanent collection.
In a 2012 interview published on WHYY.org, Mavis described her art as: “The contrast of softness, beauty, and that one part that creates tension. If you can’t pin it down, that’s good.”
This October Mavis will be in an exhibit sponsored by the Senior Artist Initiative at the Episcopal Cathedral of Philadelphia. She is represented by the J. Cacciola Gallery, 35 Mill Street, Bernardsville, NJ and also shows and sells work from her studio by appointment, 215-297-0434. Additionally, her work can be viewed on her website, mavissmithart.com and on Artsy.net.