'I've just been blessed': Wrightstown woman still painting at 100 years old

Sarah Kloepping, Green Bay Press-Gazette
·2 min read

WRIGHTSTOWN — Germaine Smith was waiting until after her 100th birthday celebration to decide which painting she'd start next.

The nearly lifelong Wrightstown resident, who turned 100 on Jan. 8, took up painting at 18 years old. And for the last eight decades, she's been honing her craft, working with oil paints and watercolors.

"I'm very proud of it, to think that I still do it," said Smith, sitting in her living room surrounded by framed pieces of art.

Germaine Smith, who turned 100 on Jan. 8, paints a greeting card using water colors while sitting at her kitchen table on Jan. 18, 2023, in Wrightstown, Wis.
Germaine Smith, who turned 100 on Jan. 8, paints a greeting card using water colors while sitting at her kitchen table on Jan. 18, 2023, in Wrightstown, Wis.

One painting of a man walking his dog down a tree-lined path in autumn. Another of a pensive-looking boy with his chin resting on his hand. A third of an older woman cloaked in a red shawl, holding a rosary.

A few other paintings on the walls — a forest covered by freshly fallen snow, a nun playing the violin — are not hers. Those were made by Smith's mother, Mary Verbeten, who began painting as a schoolteacher and eventually started giving lessons to another woman.

"I would just wonder, if she can paint, why can't I?" Smith said. "So I told Mama I'd like to paint ... because I had seen her do all this stuff before, I knew just how to do it."

A painting of a wine jug surrounded by cherries painted by Germaine Smith, who turned 100 on Jan. 8, hangs in the kitchen of her home on Jan. 18, 2023, in Wrightstown, Wis.
A painting of a wine jug surrounded by cherries painted by Germaine Smith, who turned 100 on Jan. 8, hangs in the kitchen of her home on Jan. 18, 2023, in Wrightstown, Wis.

Smith didn't always consider herself a real artist, because "all she does" is copy a design she likes, transfer that design to a canvas, blend the colors to match and bring the scene to life. But she's always felt a sense of accomplishment after completing a piece, which can take up to 40 hours, depending on the size and amount of detail.

"(I've) got a good hand yet. It’s amazing,” she said. “There’s so much meaning to a picture when you paint it yourself."

Germaine Smith, who turned 100 on Jan. 8, paints a greeting card using water colors while sitting at her kitchen table on Jan. 18, 2023, in Wrightstown, Wis.
Germaine Smith, who turned 100 on Jan. 8, paints a greeting card using water colors while sitting at her kitchen table on Jan. 18, 2023, in Wrightstown, Wis.

The eldest of five children, Smith spent her early years on a dairy farm in Outagamie County. In 1935, during the Great Depression, her family lost the property and moved to Wrightstown, where she's lived ever since.

Today, she is the oldest female member of St. Clare Catholic Parish, which includes churches in Wrightstown, Askeaton and Greenleaf.

"Germaine is well-known in the community for her paintings," said the Rev. Brian Wideman, who received a hand-painted card from Smith on his birthday. "She is an absolute pleasure to know. She's humble and wise and incredibly gracious and very generous with all that God has given her.

"The arts are important ... for the formation of the human person and human spirit, so it's really wonderful she has practiced her art all her life. I think it's really contributed to who she is."

Smith uses oil paints for her bigger projects, but began painting Christmas and birthday cards with watercolors about 40 years ago for her grandchildren.

Now she makes cards for her great-grandchildren.

"I've just been blessed," she said with a smile. "That's all."

Contact Sarah Kloepping at skloepping@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter at @SarahKloepping

This article originally appeared on Green Bay Press-Gazette: Wrightstown woman still painting at 100 years old