Stephen Smith Gallery

Fine Art With The Finest Collectors In Mind

Featured Exhibition

Linda Rowell

“WONKY” abstractions with mixed media

I am a professional mixed media artist and I teach privately. I vacillate between mixed media, (charcoal, acrylics, pastel, inks, etc), and oils. I seek inspiration from the landscape and I love to draw and paint animal and human portraits. I strive to work semi-abstractly in which my subjects are still recognizable while at the same time abstracted either in form or color, or both. It keeps it interesting for me and hopefully for my audience.

Creating art is such a joyful process for me and as a result my art has a very playful and up-beat quality. My latest project involves something I have loved creating, but never intended on showing it publicly — abstracted portraits in which facial features are purposely made “wonky.” I view this collection as a celebration of our yin and yang as human beings. This is based on the premise that perfection cannot be had without imperfection. Even though none of us is perfect… we cannot even come close without owning our imperfections. I believe that living a creative life is a true blessing.

Featured Exhibition

Denise Evans

fine art - multimedia

A TRIBUTE EXHIBIT honoring the lifetime’s artwork of fine artist, Denise Evans. Born and raised in London, England, Evans studied art at the Byam Shaw School of Art and received her PhD from the Slade School of Fine Art/University of London. Her work was shown at the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in Oxford, England prior to her moving to the United States and settling in the Weston, Missouri area.

During 1996 she traveled alone to explore and be influenced by landscapes of America and fell in love with its nature, more importantly its deserts. Alone in a 1983 Jeep she explored the deserts of the West of the USA and was profoundly inspired. She moved to the Midwest of the USA in 1997 with the full intent of exploring the nature of the East and West to extend her artistic horizons. By the end of 1999 that fulfillment was lost when she became sick with Semi-Progressive Multiple-Sclerosis and Left and Right Temporal Epilepsy and drug resistant grand-mal seizures. Neurological illnesses during the next two decades began to dominate her life. Left disabled and homebound, Evans found refuge in journaling her life through her self-portrait paintings and writings. She passed in February, 2023.

It was Denise’s dream to have one last gallery showing of her most recent works. Unfortunately, the disease stole the opportunity from her. Stephen Smith Gallery is honored to fulfill Denise’s dream and share her life’s journey (both painful and inspiring simultaneously) with you. Come meet Denise through her Lifetime’s Artwork.

Gallery Artists

Art of the Week

Cindy Manry

This series of paintings it titled “From May to October”

Inspired by nature’s changing seasons. From the warmth and softness of summer to the crisp welcoming deep rich tones of autumn, abstract plants, trees, and sky dominate this series. Layers of hidden materials and acrylic paint combine to create interest, shape, movement, and depth.

“I’d like the viewer to be curious, intrigued, and tempted to touch the art to feel the texture.”