Indy artist recreates memories in paintings of homes, landmarks
Skye Lee Smith likes to paint memories.
Smith, an artist based out of Broad Ripple, does watercolor paintings of people’s homes and Indianapolis landmarks. Though she stays true to the architecture and line work of the buildings, she mixes this realism with a bit of nostalgia.
Memories of spaces are typically a bit romanticized, Smith said. People blur out blemishes on the brick, forget scuff marks on the concrete and remember the grass a little bit greener.
So when Smith is creating the images, she leaves out all of the unmemorable details, sometimes making the sky a bit brighter or coloring in flowers with more buds and blooms. If she's painting a house, she captures the important things the homeowners remember, such as the tree in the front yard. If she's painting a landmark or historic building, she likes to change up the lighting and focus on some features over others.
“I try to paint it,” Smith said, "like you remember it."
The painting process
About four years ago, Smith, 29, bought her first home and decided to commemorate it by doing a watercolor painting of the exterior.
She loved it, her husband thought it was cool and so did others after she posted it online.
More:Indianapolis art: Murals, paintings from local artists across Indy
Almost immediately she started working on commissions at night after coming home from her teaching job.
Since she started she has painted images for homeowners, realtors wanting to give their clients a memorable welcoming or farewell gift and sometimes for people who want to have a painting of a location that is memorable for them, such as their wedding venue. She has also created paintings of landmarks and distinct locations in TV shows which people can purchase prints of on Etsy and Facebook.
In addition to prints, customers can also purchase different items with her work printed on them, such as water glasses or wood art.
About a year ago, Smith left teaching to pursue her business full-time.
Now she spends the majority of her days in her home office, sitting in the midst of unpacked merchandise and walls filled with inspirational quotes, some of which are recycled from her former classrooms. One of the sticky notes on her desk read, “Be your favorite version of yourself.”
Her days mainly consist of flowing through her painting process: gathering images of the building, talking with the client, sketching the structures with pencil and a ruler (to keep the edges straight) inking over those lines with a micron ink pen and then painting. Painting typically takes a few days because the watercolor paper needs to dry in between each step to avoid becoming a “soppy mess,” Smith said.
Over the years, she has developed ideas for what colors to use for wood and greenery, some tricks to paint more efficiently, such as painting the dark shadows and black windows last, and techniques for how to draw and paint brick walls.
“It feels very intuitive," Smith said about painting the middle section of the brick. "It’s less about representing exactly what’s happening in front of you and more just the feel of this brick.”
More:Art of the helmet: Indianapolis Motor Speedway art show spotlights racing and creativity
'Something a photograph can’t do'
Smith said she loves painting homes because every one of them tells a story. If the client is asking for a painting of a childhood home, she loves hearing about the memories made inside. If the painting is for an older homeowner, she wants to know the meaning behind the flowers they chose.
“Getting to know why they chose these parts of their home is so special,” she said.
Part of capturing these homes is painting them to match a memory instead of directly copying a photo.
One time she was painting the home of a woman who was very proud of her landscaping. While her plants flowered during different seasons, Smith was able to create one painting in which every rose, tulip and daffodil was blooming.
“That’s something that a photograph can’t do,” she said.
Smith's customer, Amy Jones, realtor for @properties in Indianapolis, said she buys paintings from Smith for her clients because of how personalized and detailed the paintings are, like an architectural drawing.
Last year, Jones was doing an estate sale for a family that had just lost their mom. She commissioned two paintings of the house for the woman's children and asked that the garage be a little bluer than it looked in the submitted pictures because of the color's significance.
“The kids always were like, ‘Mom, why did you paint the garage this blue? It’s hideous. It doesn’t match,’" Jones said about the family's interactions. "But it was their mom’s favorite color.”
After the kids received the painting, they were overjoyed, talking about how Smith had even gotten the blue color right, Jones said.
"It was special to them," she said, "because someone paid attention to that small detail."
Indianapolis architecture
In addition to painting people’s homes, Smith also looks to encapsulate Indianapolis architecture in her art.
Smith moved to Indianapolis to attend the Herron School of Art and Design at IUPUI and never left.
“I loved the city and it was just so beautiful,” she said. “I just wanted to stay there for a long time.”
For her, a part of this beauty comes from Indianapolis architecture: the artsy and eclectic styles in Fountain Square, the bungalow homes in Broad Ripple and the streets with a mix of modern and classic styles. One example of this is Massachusetts Avenue, where the Athenaeum, a building that was named a National Historic Landmark in 2016, can be found a few blocks from FortyFive Degrees, a modern sushi restaurant and bar.
More:Traveling exhibition brings replicas of Michelangelo's famous works to Circle Centre Mall
“I just love the contrast between seeing a historical building and then seeing a super hip bar,” she said. “It shows how different we all are in Indianapolis and we can find joy in all of these places.”
To capture her love for this architecture, Smith began researching and painting different Indianapolis landmarks. Some of the ones she has painted are the Indianapolis Canal Walk, Union Station, Soldiers and Sailors Monument, the entrance to the Indianapolis Zoo and Dancing Ann on Mass Ave. This past Thursday, she completed her paintings of The Vogue Theatre and the Rainbow Bridge, two recognizable buildings in her neighborhood.
Recently, Smith started working on more pieces in the Irvington neighborhood. She said she was drawn to the area because of its Halloween festival, which will celebrate its 76th year this October, and the “spookier undertone” of the architecture.
Some of the locations she painted in this neighborhood are the Kyle Oak Tree, the Irvington Masonic Lodge and the Irvington Theater, which is a plant shop. Her painting of the lodge is showcased in another Irvington shop and the plant shop has the painting of their space displayed in-house. She said she plans to complete more paintings around Halloween.
Smith's husband Levi Smith said the two have explored more in Irvington, which they hadn't frequented before, because she started painting and making connections in that area. They both fell in love with the city in college and Smith's work over the past two years has allowed her and her husband to explore more of it.
"It’s made me feel a little more connected to our communities," he said, "and I know it has for her in bigger ways."
Remembering home
While Smith’s paintings encapsulate the architecture and history of Indianapolis, that is not the reason she started painting and has continued to paint buildings.
Smith started doing watercolor paintings because of the reactions she saw on her initial Facebook post. She continued her business because she wanted to spread that feeling to other people and help them remember their home, whether that be their house or their city.
Smith keeps the painting of her home on the top of a bookcase in her living room. One of Jones' clients keeps Smith's painting of their first home in their second home.
One of Smith's favorite projects was getting to paint a photo of someone’s childhood home, which had been destroyed in a fire. The person had never taken a complete photo of their house, so Smith constructed one by looking at several photos taken on the porch and in their yard. She was able to give them a lasting image of their home.
“It’s hard when you don’t have a photo,” Smith said. “It was just really cool that I was able to do that for her.”
For more information on Smith's art, go to www.lovelyhomesbyskye.com or www.etsy.com/shop/LovelyHomesbySkye.
Contact IndyStar reporter Madison Smalstig at MSmalstig@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Indy artist recreates memories in paintings of homes, landmarks
