Stephanie Smith

Stephanie Smith is a visionary artist who primarily creates spiritual based pieces involving mandalas. Before she became an artist, Stephanie worked in retail, a corporate call center, made her own jewelry, and was a professional blogger. She became interested in art through her interest in spiritual music and studying African culture; for her, the mandala became an extension of the music. A mandala is a spiritual symbol that involves repetitive patterns, typically within a circle. Stephanie started drawing mandala’s as a therapeutic outlet; she decided to use her excess energy to make art. Although Stephanie has sold several pieces and could be considered an accomplished artist, she received no formal training. She did not go to art school or receive any degree in art; all of her visionary technique has been self-taught, with a few tips picked up from friends and colleagues.

Technology is integrated into her work primarily through blogging, marketing, and creating displays. Stephanie uses the internet to research art on Pinterest and update her blog, photography to provide updates on her artwork on her blog, and spreadsheets for marketing. Additionally, she uses an iPad app called Procreate to test out layers on artwork. In relation to tools that she uses for her artwork, Stephanie recently started using rulers and compasses to make her art more precise and geometrical. Also, she uses occasionally creates vision boards for inspiration. She has been slowly integrating technology into her process in order to improve or change her art.

I am impressed that she is a self-taught artist. Her dedication to creating visionary art is inspiring, and after hearing her talk about her work it is exceedingly obvious that she is passionate about her art. Also, her works appear to stem from Eastern and African religions and philosophies is interesting, and I wonder why she never tried to use Eastern or African art techniques to create her mandalas.