Intro to artist Birdi, for opening of 3rd Quarter Tandem Art Shows
2023’s 3rd quarter LAHC Tandem Art Shows
Lyons Library: “Birdi’s-Eye View” Art Show Reception with Kristine Birdi Smock
Lyons Town Hall: theme of “resident art” = “Funky Whimsy Town.”
Opening Reception: Wednesday July 12 4:30-6:30pm
(Show runs from July 12 – October 13, 2023)
Wednesday, July 12, is a triple header exciting day of art in Lyons. Starting at 4:30pm at the Library, it’s the 2023’s 3rd quarter LAHC Tandem Art Shows’ Opening Reception featuring a retrospective of multimedia works by Kristine “Birdi” Smock reflecting “Birdi’s Eye View.” Over at Town Hall, visitors will find the Tandem Art Show with the theme “Funky Whimsy Town.”
Finish the evening with a free concert across the street at Sandstone Park at 6:30pm.
Folks are encouraged to stop at the Library first, for announcements and introductions at 5:15 p.m., enjoy some refreshments and live music, and then take a short stroll down to Town Hall
At the Library, meet Birdi Smock and enjoy her unique, inventive art show. Food and beverages will be on hand 4:30-6:30p.m. provided by Lyons’ Diner Bar; along with foot stompin’ tunes by Kate Kerr and her band, Fair & Square. This old-time music has inspired much of Birdi’s art. She won’t be able to resist joining in with her fiddle and might even invite everyone to some flatfoot dancing! Donations to the LAHC are greatly appreciated. Smock art will be for sale and commissions are accepted.
Birdi said that there is not much appropriate room for her popular sculptures, and that most paintings she will be exhibiting are from Hawaii, Florida and Lyons, and Buena Vista farm,… and of musicians, mostly old time musicians. She noted that, “We are having an old time jam at 6:30 after the opening.”
Many people in town will know of Birdi from her fiddle and ukulele playing in town, and her eclectic, large, fun sculptures around her home in downtown Lyons. She would sometimes play music at the Senior Center. The photo shows her playing music with Lyons senior Vance French on the porch.
ARTIST “BIRDI” STATEMENT
Beauty can be found in the most unexpected places. Consider a small town gas station like U Pump It, or a big worldwide company as the backdrop of a natural landscape, or a tangle of bent scrap metal in a dumpster. These are visuals that catch my eye searching for materials that can possibly be transformed. This scrap work asks the question, “Is beauty everywhere?” Is making beauty possible in a worldwide destructive environmental and political climate? My answer is yes.
More inspiration comes from wild places in nature, animals, urban landscapes, traditional music, family, friends, and exploring other cultures.
I enjoy letting my mind and heart wander over gathered materials, looking for possibilities. The making is so rewarding, sometimes more than the actual product.
My multifarious interests vary from painted landscapes to scrap metal sculptures, driftwood mobiles, birds, clay masks, concrete mosaics, melted plastics, found objects and all things that tickle my curiosity.
Three thoughts have continually inspired and propelled my work. First, “If I don’t do my work, no one will.” Second, “Art is the question and not the answer.” Lastly, to imagine and create beauty in a world that seems flawed and broken is a positive political statement.*
Special thanks to Lyons Art and Humanities Commission (LAHC) for sponsoring these Lyons art shows, and to the Lyons Community Library for displaying them. I’m grateful to my family and friends for supporting me through my cluttered array of creative chaos.
===* When asked to explain why she felt her art was “a positive political statement,” she replied: Many of my artist colleges and teaches implied that to be an artist one needed to be exposing the wrong or vulgar parts of the world. I am discovering and decided that exposing beauty can be considered as a political statement because it is sometimes tucked into rare places and in unexpected locations
ARTIST BIO
Kristine “Birdi” Smock is a well-known fixture in the Front Range art community with more than 40 years of multiple shows, clay installations, murals, and welded sculptures. She was selected for numerous public art installations throughout Colorado, Florida, and New Jersey. She participated in Boulder Open Studio events for 10 years. Upon moving to Lyons, she participated in the Lyons Sculpture Trail, a summer-long event including over 50 local artists.
Selected for over 20 Colorado artist-in-residence programs, Birdi especially enjoyed teaching and mentoring students of all ages. Many of the classes were focused on creating large clay murals. She taught at the Boulder Pottery Lab for 5 years. She led multimedia art classes at the Museum of Outdoor Arts in Denver. She says “Teaching is my teacher. Everything important I learned from my students.”
Of her many art installations, there is a fun, interactive one to visit in Boulder at the Skunk Creek Underpass. Behind the downtown Boulder Post Office her Tango Cats piece can be found.
Birdi grew up in New Jersey and moved to Boulder County 43 years ago including 20 years here in Lyons. She completed her Fine Arts degree at CU Boulder in 1987. A true snowbird, she splits her time between Lyons and Hawaii to be with her daughter and five-year-old twin grandchildren.
Art Installations
“The Denver Boat”, Sloan’s Lake Park, Denver CO
“We Are All Together”, Turtleback Zoo, New Jersey
Wildlife Gates, Vale CO
Skunk Creek Underpass, Boulder CO
Tango Cats Boulder CO
Mr. Edison at Edison Elementary, Denver CO
Three Mules, Colorado History Museum, Denver CO
Lyons Triangle Sculpture, Lyons CO
Various painted murals in Colorado, Florida and Hawaii
Residencies
Na Bloom, San Cristobal de las Casa, Mexico
Cummington Art Community Residency, Massachusetts
Exhibitions
Dairy Center for the Arts, Boulder CO
Solo Art Show at Colorado University, Boulder CO
Artist Studio Tours for 10 years, Boulder CO
Lyons Sculpture Trail for 3 years, Lyons CO
Pirate Art Gallery, Denver CO
Museum of Outdoor Arts, Denver CO
Museum of Contemporary Art, Boulder CO
Boulder Public Library, Boulder CO
Estes Park Gallery, Estes Park, CO
