© Cowell College, 2008
Maintained by Sebastian Wolff ().

Anne Easley at Cowell's Smith Gallery

Celebrating 35 years of a life in the arts, Anne Smith Easley will exhibit two distinct bodies of work in the Eloise Pickard Smith Gallery, Cowell College, October 17 through December 7. The exhibitions, "A Paper Trail", and "A Fragile Canvas," both have family influences at their core. A resident of Santa Cruz since 1963 when her father, Page Smith accepted the first Provost position at UCSC's Cowell College, Anne never dreamed that her fatherís first chicken would lead to her career of over 30 years.

Anne began experimenting with ink and then watercolor on that first chicken's eggs and then as a fatherís day present she gave Page one of her first efforts, titled "Revolutionary Chicken." A perfect gift for her father, whose revolutionary spirit and love of American History was legendary. Painted eggs are considered "a collectible," and Anne, sells her work all over the country. A selection of these "fragile canvasses," including "Revolutionary Chicken," will be on display in the Annex Gallery, located next door to the Eloise Pickard Smith Gallery, named after Anneís mother.

While Anne's father was a noted historian, her mother Eloise was also a well-known, if not feisty, and committed advocate for the arts in both California and in Santa Cruz, and an artist in her own right. It was as a tribute to her work in the arts that the Eloise Pickard Smith Gallery was named after her. Eloise experimented in many media but her best-loved works are her collages. She had an eye for design and for unusual papers and small objets that she would combine into her collages and assemblages.

When Page and Eloise passed away within 36 hours of each other in 1995, the Smith family, as all families do, had to deal with the many objects left behind by their parents. An estate sale to friends in their Bonny Doon home accomplished that task, but the assortment of unusual and handmade papers that filled Eloise's studio remained. Anne always knew she would do something with them.

Using these leftovers - inherited materials consisting many painted and hand worked papers, pictures, bits of writing, pieces of material and ribbon, and small objets, the daughter and artist, Anne Smith Easley, with a tip of her hat to her mother, has created her own collages. Anne thinks of her collages as a collaborative effort and also combines her own handmade papers with her inherited papers. This "Paper Trail" will fill the Smith Gallery's main gallery with color and abstraction starting on October 17 through December 7, and the delicate paintings on eggs will be on display in the Annex Gallery.

Meet the artist at the opening reception on Sunday, October 21, 2 - 4 p.m. The public is welcome.

Regular gallery hours are 11 A.M. - 5 P.M., Tuesday - Sunday. For more information please call (831) 459-2953.

For more information, please contact Linda Pope at 831-459-2953, .