I make art by following the rabbit hole.
I’m Barb Smucker, a mixed media artist and teacher living and working in Cincinnati, Ohio. My work is a playful collision of line, shape, texture, color, collage, paint and whatever else happens to wander onto the surface.
Make a mess—find the magic.
I’m not interested in making everything match—I’m interested in making it sing.
My paintings are built through layers of searching, playing, scraping, adding, subtracting and occasionally wondering what on earth I’ve done.
That’s the good part.
The work evolves. Things disappear. Tiny surprises peek through. A color you weren’t expecting suddenly becomes exactly right.
It feels a lot like life.
There’s humor. There’s tenderness. There are happy accidents.
And there is always room for one more layer.
I believe creativity isn’t reserved for people who already know what they’re doing.
In fact, I think not knowing what you're doing can be an excellent place to begin.
Teaching has become one of my favorite parts of making art because I get to watch people loosen up, take risks, make discoveries and remember that creating something doesn't have to be precious.
It can be messy.
It can be weird.
It can be surprising.
It can be yours.
So grab the paint. Tear the paper. Make the mark.
Let's see what happens.
New in the shop
“Summer in the City”
This 4 x 6 in. collage was made while participating in the 100 day project. It comes mounted on mixed media paper and presented in a 11 x 16 in. museum weight mat, ready for framing.
“New Rhythm”
This 4 x 6 in. collage was made while participating in the 100 day project. It comes mounted on mixed media paper and presented in a 11 x 16 in. museum weight mat, ready for framing.
“Time to Launch”
This 4 x 6 in. collage was made while participating in the 100 day project. It comes mounted on mixed media paper and presented in a 11 x 16 in. museum weight mat, ready for framing.
Come hang out in my studio.
Want to see what I’m making, experimenting with, messing up, and figuring out next?
Follow along on Instagram for new work, studio glimpses, creative rabbit holes, and a little behind-the-scenes look at what happens when I’m not teaching.
