C. Smith Marks - Maryland Artist

C. Smith Marks, AKA Cissy is a Baltimore artist who shares her life with husband and fellow talented artist/architect Paul Marks. Smith Marks has exhibited extensively within her community and works to show off her paintings in local coffee shops to formal gallery shows.

Some of her latest work involves portraits, and we take on a bold assumption that they are paintings of local Baltimoreans serving as models, (some nudes and some neighbors/friends). Out of all her portraits, I like a painting called Ellen. It seems most reflective of what Baltimore should look like.

Smith Marks also takes on flowers and fruit in her version of the still life. Her website says, "My love of brilliance, vibrancy of color and composition in regards to interplay of negative and positive space best describes the priorities in my work. I have a bold, graphic style using flat planes and minimal modeling.” I agree with her assessment when it comes to her execution of a still life.

Below, Smith Marks creates a table scene of fresh bananas, mangos, papayas, a pineapple and a bowl of tomatoes. The mortar and pestle serves as a balance to the pineapple and as she has stated; she lets the blue background serve as negative space. Her flower and fruit still lifes belong on kitchen and dining rooms walls in homes that have as much exuberance and happiness as these colors. She frequently uses acrylic on canvas, and the painting below is 20 x 16 inches. We believe that Smith Marks might have painted this while visiting with another strong Baltimore artist: Elayne Reynolds Duke.

"Fresh Fruit"

C. Smith Marks earned her BFA from the Maryland Institute College of Art and also studied at the famed Parsons School of Design in New York. She has had work accepted at juried venues such as the Maryland Federation of Art, and last year (2015) she had a major joint exhibition in San Miguel. Her works are in numerous private collections.

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