Thirty years ago, I wandered into a storefront down the street and met a woman who would become a friend for life. Kay Smith. She had a small studio where she held watercolor classes. Seven or eight of us would meet weekly to struggle through trying to capture the shape of a lily or the shadow of a fruit bowl.
I had art classes in college, but I never had an instructor who pored over each and every composition we attempted, or saved a painting from the trash with a quick stroke of her brush.
It was an intense group – we talked while we worked. We all disclosed details of our lives. The age range was huge – 25 to 85. Until then, I’d never met women in their eighties who used the f-word so effectively!
I had to drop my watercolor class to start design school, which was all-consuming. But Kay and I never lost touch. We would meet for lunch or tea in her garden, and she hired me for decorating the minute I got established.
Kay is a historic painter. She captures moments in history like no other. But her paintings reflect only a small sliver of her understanding of history. A longtime George Washington scholar, she calls him “my beloved.” Her subjects have taken her far beyond the Delaware, though. She toured the entire theater of the American Revolution, followed Columbus’ path in Spain, traveled the Lewis and Clark trail, studied John Adams’ ancestral home in England, met each of the Triple Crown winners in retirement, and followed Hemingway into old age.
After researching the subject of her commissions until she becomes an expert in that persona, she confesses that she could conjure them all up at a round-table discussion. “If Hemingway were present, I know George wouldn’t have gone past the door.”
Kay was born on a farm in Vandalia, IL, in 1923, where she has become a local celebrity through the years, and still has a lot of family in the area. But she made her way to the School of The Art Institute in Chicago during WWII and began her career as an illustrator for ad agencies. To hear her stories about those years is a special treat. Ten thousand British soldiers bivouacked at the Hilton Hotel, looking for young women to date…Kay doesn’t remember the war being very rough here…although she mentioned there was a shortage of paint brushes and sugar.
One of my favorite portraits of Kay still hangs over her fireplace.
Painted by her dear friend, Jane Dorsey, it captures her as a strong, self-assured young woman, living in Nice during the 70s. Kay’s stamina hasn’t diminished much, and her goals have actually expanded. She is bolstered by a committee of eight professional friends who represent expertise in marketing, public relations, journalism, advertising, videography and IT. Their collective goal is to make Kay’s artwork and fascinating story reach as far as possible, and gain her the recognition she so richly deserves.
Kay has been booked for speaking engagements by many venues – DePaul University, The Hemingway Foundation, Lincoln Park Village, Old Town Triangle Assn., and The Pritzker Military Library, to name a few. She also exhibits and promotes the sale of her original art and prints of her artwork. Her website, www.kaysmithartist.com, has such great details about all of her contributions, it’s definitely worth a visit.
I think the most interesting decorating request Kay had for me was to find the best faux artist to hand paint her living room. We commissioned him to do some very celestial clouds and doves over the chandelier, and write excerpts from George Washington’s eulogy, originally given by Light Horse Harry Lee (a predecessor of General Lee’s), around the room. He also painted Washington’s portrait over the dining room archway, with a billowing flag backdrop.
Later we created a beautiful headboard for her bedroom that features scenes of Mount Vernon.
As the official decorator for the Artist Laureate of Illinois, I receive many perks, such as hearing Kay’s wonderful anecdotes and being invited to parties with her charming acquaintances. We have spent hours solving the world’s problems at her kitchen table. Our topics range from religion to politics to cosmetics. She makes me guffaw over some of her southern Illinois expressions (done in a very mid-Atlantic accent)…”I like my whiskey neat and my onions strong!”
Recently I received these darling tea towels, which feature Kay’s original drawings. 
Taken from old cook books like this one,
all illustrations by Kay Smith, www.outofprint.com is paying her royalties and reintroducing these darling images! Opportunity knocks every day to celebrate Kay.
Last week, when I visited her to take some photos and enjoy a cup of coffee, she said something so meaningful, so insightful about who she is. “I know it sounds crazy, but when I turned 90, I felt like I had my whole life in front of me. I have so much to do!”
Yes, she taught me amazing details about the art of watercolor – composition, negative space, complementary colors. But her wisdom about life is the greatest teaching that has emerged.
If you want to read more about Kay:
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