Nicole Smedile, senior art education major lives in Cape May during the summer. She’s in the ocean all the time so she decided to start creating a series of eight seascapes for her collection, Deep. She uses her underwater camera to take images while she is in the ocean and then she creates a larger painting from that image.
She had her exhibition, a presentation of her work, in Westby Hall on Wednesday. Here’s what she said on Facebook about her work, “There is an overwhelming feeling when I walk into the room and see all of my work hung up. When I go in there, I don’t just see an accomplishment that I’ve put my mind, heart and soul into but possibilities in myself and in life I never knew existed. These past few years have brought me the most unbelievable experiences and I’ve grown in ways I could have never imagined.”
Smedile, who has been student teaching this semester, would work on these large seascapes at night to unwind from the day.
“They are very expressive, they have a lot of movement,” says Smedile about her paintings.
One professor at her exhibition said, “It’s like a self-portrait. If you were able to put her energy down on paper in paint, this would be it.”
She eventually wants to travel and continue this series with oceans from around the world. But for now, she is certainly getting her feet wet in many areas of the art world right here in New Jersey.
Exhibitions and Opportunities
- She has an exhibition at RAW artists in Hoboken on July 16.
- She will continue her job at Painttyme where she travels to different venues to teach people to paint.
- She will be teaching ceramics, graphic art and photography at Highland High School filling in for the month of June for a teacher on maternity leave as a long-term substitute.
- This summer she will be a resident artist for the ArtBOX in Wildwood where she will be working with four other artists in studios making and selling artwork.
- She plans to continue making and selling her Mermaid Treasures, jewelry she makes from the shells she finds at Cape May.
- She will also be teaching private classes and ceramics at the Art Block in Cape May.
Smedile has learned a lot from the Rowan Art Department. Here’s some advice she would give to future art students. “Never assume that your work can’t be better. A lot of artists are not open to critiques. You can never stop growing. Every person has something new to say about your work.”
Smedile especially values the critiques from her professor, Daniel Chard, 76, who made all of the wooden frames for Smedile’s paintings by hand.
Check out Smedile’s work here and visit some of her exhibits this summer or take a class with her.