Portfolio
Kris Smith's artistic talent was recognized while still a student when she was awarded the National Hallmark Honor Prize in art. She studied in Europe and completed her degree at DePauw University.
Since then her career has brought her art to some rather remarkable places, including:
The White House - Ford Administration - painting
The White House - Carter Administration – portrait of Amy
Switzerland - Sir Charles Chaplin – portrait
Washington D.C. - Dorothy Hamill – portrait • Art Buchwald – portrait
Virginia - W.C. Fields & Friends Restaurant – 15 lifesized paintings of W.C. Fields and contemporaries, including Laurel & Hardy,
Mae West, Shirley Temple, Will Rogers, and more
Maryland - Washington Bullets NBA Champion Team Portrait, and limited edition sculpture collection
California - Neil Diamond - portrait • Smile Gallery, San Francisco – sculpture
New Mexico - Windsor Betts Gallery, Santa Fe – sculpture
Florida - Burt Reynolds – portrait, 1980 • Hamilton Forman, Ft. Lauderdale Chamber of Commerce Man of the Year, 1992 - portrait •
David McCullough, Pulitzer Prize Winning Author – portrait • 2011 - Designed and created 12 ½' Painted wood statue for the lobby of the Women in Distress Center in Deerfield Beach • Frank Del Rio, C.E.O. of Norwegian Cruselines
New York - Helen Gurley Brown, Editor, Cosmopolitan Magazine –portrait • Thomas Hoving, Metropolitan Museum of Art – Sculpture
Around the World - from 2012 until present day, Kris has been an Artist in Residence on Oceania Cruiselines (NCL)
Portrait Highlights
• Lauren Bacall
• Dr. Phil McGraw
• Gloria Steinem
• Dave Barry
• Jimmy Carter
• Charlton Heston
• Frank Del Rio, C.E.O. of Norwegian Cruselines
Two of Kris' works have been acquired by the city of Ft. Lauderdale;
one for the Broward Sheriff's Office, and one has been accepted as a part of
the Black History Museum's permanent collection.
Along with her serious commissions, Kris created sculpted wooden
"portrait" marionettes which were subsequently featured as one of Neiman
Marcus' 10 most unusual gifts in the world in their famous Christmas Catalog,
1997. This led to appearances on OPRAH, MSNBC, GOOD MORNING AMERICA, 1998, as
well as a feature in PEOPLE MAGAZINE. CLICK HERE
Recently, Kris has developed a series of sculpted wood and clay
"Little Guys" to appeal to the lighter side of our natures. They are
a multi-media culmination of her talent as both a sculptor and a portraitist.
They are contemporary in nature and thematic in design and have found a
following among those who share her delightful sense of humor! One of those is
financial advice guru, Suze Orman!
While working on commissions and teaching portrait workshops, Kris is an
active member of the Boca Raton Museum Artist's Guild and a member of the
National Portrait Society. One can find her busily at work in her studio amid
the sawdust and paint, always in
search of a new idea to put into one form or another!
