2019 Jazz Crawl Painting Raffle

YOU COULD WIN THIS ORIGINAL WATERCOLOR/PASTEL PAINTING BY ARTIST COLETTE ODYA SMITH, “LIGHT IN THE FOREST” was Created & Generously Donated by Artist Colette Odya Smith. It is an Original Pastel/Watercolor 20” X 20” Painting ~ Valued at $2,400. It is beautifully framed in wood with a coppery finish, under museum glass with acid-free archival materials. The raffle tickets are: $20 for five or $5 each. The Drawing will be held Friday, August 9, 2019 at 9:00pm, at the 16th Annual Cheese Capital Jazz & Blues Crawl

ABOUT THE ARTIST COLETTE ODYA SMITH Ms. Smith is an award-winning artist who has exhibited widely, including in the US, France, Germany and China. Her recognitions include being named a Master Pastellist - le Societe des Pastellistes de France, Masters Circle Member - International Association of Pastel Societies IAPS, and Master Pastelist - Pastel Society of America PSA. She has been published in 2 books, featured multiple times in The Pastel Journal, American Artist, and Pratique des Arts magazines, and judged and written for The Pastel Journal. She teaches, offers critiques, and last year, juried “Enduring Brilliance”, the prestigious exhibition of the PSA in New York City. She is in the collection of the Ming Art Museum, dedicated to pastel paintings, in Suzhou, China. Currently living in Wauwatosa, Ms. Smith is a native of Milwaukee. She is known for her contemporary landscapes interpreted in a beautiful fusion of realism and abstraction. www.coletteodyasmith.com

COLETTE’S ARTIST STATEMENT: My paintings aim to portray both inner and outer realities. Whether rendered clearly or referenced obliquely, water, rocks and foliage are my artistic focus. I find these subjects beguiling, becoming the ‘doors’ through which I explore. More than mere depictions, the paintings are expressions of my discoveries. While remaining grounded in realism, I love creating passages of paint where one can get lost without concern for naming and words. I invite the viewer to respond with their own perceptions and appreciations of the mysterious beauty revealed in the humblest of scenes. And, since I use pastels and watercolor, I’m charmed to be using the same elements of dust and water that I am drawn to paint. These images might be anywhere, but they are now always in my heart. I hope they speak to yours