Local artist Chelsea Smith discusses her creative process, celebrity following, and some of her favorite things about O-Town.

From the time local artist and Casselberry native Chelsea Smith could hold a pen, she was drawing—on everything in her parents’ house. Her passion excelled at the age of 12, when she attended the Winter Park Sidewalk Art Festival and showed her sketchbook to hyper-realist artist Jeff Eckert, who became her mentor and nurtured her artistic growth.

A graduate of Lake Howell High School who attended Seminole State College (SSC) and University of Central Florida (UCF), the 24-year-old has blossomed into an accomplished artist with many prestigious accolades from the fine arts community, such as being selected as this year’s Mount Dora Arts Festival poster artist, receiving the 2016 MidFlorida Mayfaire by-the-Lake Merit Award and being named Judges’ Choice at Winter Haven’s 2016 Central Park Art Festival, among others. She’s also attracted an impressive list of celebrity patrons along the way.

We sat down with Smith to find out more about her inspirations, works and why she loves living in Central Florida.

ORLANDO FAMILY MAGAZINE: What inspired you to become an artist at such a young age? Who are some of the local artists or educators that had a hand in that inspiration and your artistic growth?

CHELSEA SMITH: I am told that even as an infant I would draw on everything in our house. One defining moment that I recall is was when I first watched Disney’s The Lion King. I only drew animals after that point. In middle school, I started sketching pets to help raise money for pet rescues such as Pet Rescue by Judy. … I still thank my Lake Howell AP art teacher, Carol Mears; my Seminole State College professors, printmaker Larry Vienneau and … Jay Spalding; and art mentor, Jeff Eckert. Although I have a Bachelor of Fine Arts from UCF, I think SSC has a superior art program for developing as an artist.

OFM: What’s your preferred medium, and how would you describe your style?

CS: Copper-plate-etching printmaking using an Edinburgh Etch. It is a Renaissance-era technique that Rembrandt himself used. I would describe my style as magical realism, as I take inspiration from both mythology and nature, with realistic techniques, while combining the two to tell stories in my art.

OFM: What’s your process for creating a new piece?

CS: I find inspiration from all things nature: flora, fauna, magic and mythology. After reading such folklores, I attempt to bring what is on the page or in the world around me to life.

From my artistic point of view, the key to etching is drawing. The essential creative process and the most time-consuming of all the stages in the making of a new piece comes from a complete, detailed and perfected drawing of the composition itself that I plan to make into an etching. Since I am a perfectionist on an almost obsessed level, I will usually create a similar piece over and over, changing things only slightly in at least 10 different drawings before I pick a composition that I am excited about with enough to turn into a final copper-plate etching.

The easier part for me, but time-consuming …, is the technical intaglio process itself. It is a personal choice for me to use the same approach that the artist Rembrandt did in the Renaissance. I use overly thick copper plates. I cover the plates in an acid-resist liquid hard ground. I use chalk on the back of a pencil-sketch image to transfer the outline of the image onto the copper. By lightly scratching through the acid-resist ground on the copper plate with an X-Acto knife, it exposes the bare copper underneath. Then, only the exposed copper will be etched when I place the copper plate into an Edinburgh Etch solution bath. The real art is working the etching of copper in the solution. It takes multiple dips into the solution for multiple hours as you work from the darkest of lines to the faintest of lines. One miscalculation can ruin the entire copper plate.

Then I hand-ink the plates in preparation for the actual printing. I have recently started creating multicolor prints, also technically called a la poupée, in which I hand-mix the ink directly onto the plate. I hand-wipe the plate with tarlatan and newsprint to get all the inks into the etched grooves and to get a perfect print. I then use a Conrad printing press, which was sold to me by friend and renowned Central Florida artist Rolly Ray Reel, to hand crank and pull my prints and editions. The most exciting part of all is pulling a first print from a plate and the big reveal, because it is the first time I get to see the artwork on paper. My personal belief is that everything within an intaglio print should be created in the direct transfer from the plate during the pressing to paper. Any post-pressing hand coloring I consider mixed-media art.

OFM: Tell us about the process of being selected as this year’s Mount Dora Arts Festival poster artist.

CS: The Mount Dora Arts Festival is a nationally rated art show [that] draws several hundred exceptional fine artists from all over the nation. It is Central Florida’s premier art festival. The Mount Dora Center [for] the Arts committee members changed their approach for selection of the poster art this year and decided to select the poster art from among the participating artists. It was very shocking for me at the time to be selected as the poster artist for this year’s festival from within such an exceptional troupe of fine artists. It is a lifelong dream-come-true for me to be selected as a poster artist of the Mount Dora Arts Festival.

OFM: You have many celebrity patrons, some of whom include President Barack Obama, actor John Cusack, and musicians Simon Le Bon, Adam Ant and Rob Thomas. How did those acquisitions come about? Which of your aesthetics appealed to each?

CS: To be honest, I am still overly flattered each time I am approached by anyone that wants to buy any of my artwork, celebrities or not. I can say that I was the most excited to have received several phone calls from my friends who were watching Oprah Winfrey’s Adam Ant episode of Where Are They Now? My artwork was featured for the entire Adam Ant interview, sitting on the bookcase just behind his head. I was moved that Adam Ant appreciated my artwork enough to have placed it so prominently within his home.

OFM: Which of your pieces are you most proud of?

CS: The Mount Dora poster art piece Cernunnos and my Tempus Fugit, Vanitas Vita pieces.

My Cernunnos stag piece was the first printmaking piece I ever created as I was learning the technique and what started me on my etching journey. This piece gave me the muse to begin my Celtic Mythology Series.

I created my Tempus Fugit, Vanitas Vita as a classical Vanitas that depicts, through both science and art, the transient nature of life through imagery of broken things, dead flowers, skulls, moths, etc. It was one of those rare, inspirational moments where everything came together exactly how I imagined. This particular piece also was the inspiration for my other ongoing series, The Sacred Feminine, which juxtaposes classical female icons within a contemporary perspective on the Renaissance idea of “Vanitas.”

OFM: Which other artists’ works do you feature in your home, either local or otherwise?

CS: My dear friend and lifelong mentor, hyper-realism pencil artist Jeff Eckert, has been mentoring me as an artist since I first met him as a pre-teen at the Winter Park [Sidewalk] Art Festival. My printmaking professor, Larry Vienneau; art professor, Jay Spalding; multimedia artist Rolly Ray Reel (who sold me my printing press); local printmaking artist and friend, David Hunter; artist Peter Max, [who created] an original art piece for me when I was a 14-year-old who wanted to show him my sketchbook; printmaker Grant Silverstein; and local art colleagues, Michele Dobbs, Janae Corrado, Leland Williams, Lauralin Bharath and everyone’s Central Florida favorite colorful artist extraordinaire, Don Nedobeck. Rembrandt and Albrecht Dürer are my favorite artists of all time, but I cannot afford to own any original artwork.

OFM: What advice would you give to today’s young, aspiring artists?

CS: Enjoy making the art that you love to make for art’s sake. It is a love that you will have with you every day of your life. If you decide that you would like to become a professional artist, then you need to have a real conversation with yourself about wearing other hats—marketing hats, sales hats, roadie hats—you get the point. It is so much hard work that has increasingly less and less to do with the actual creation of art, hence my point of when you do make art, make the art that you love. Follow your own artistic inner voice even if others criticize your art. Do what you love most, not what everyone says you should do. Most importantly, if you make the decision to become a professional artist, never give up, and follow that dream because it can absolutely come true as it has for me with hard work and determination.

OFM: If you weren’t an artist, what other profession do you think you’d enjoy?

CS: It would definitely still be in the creative-field realm. I have always been a huge fan of fashion and style and would love to be a fashion designer or makeup artist. In addition, my bachelor’s degree is in graphic design, so I would also enjoy making commercial designs—whether that would be logos, posters or even animations.

OFM: You choose to continue to live in Casselberry despite having a career that could literally take you anywhere. What is it about Greater Orlando that keeps you here?

CS: I am an Orlando native, but most importantly, Orlando, as well as Florida as a state, has the most art festivals, art shows and opportunities in the United States, so I actually could not live anywhere better for what I do [professionally]. Orlando has a thriving art scene and gave me my start in art and opportunities as a professional artist—from small farmers’ markets as a student, to nationally rated art shows, such as the Mount Dora Arts Festival. …

OFM: What are some of your favorite local entertainment options when you need a break from creating art?

CS: I have to say I am a massive live music fan. I am a real fan of ‘70s glam rock—Marc Bolan’s T. Rex, David Bowie, The Sweet, and Queen—as well as ‘80s new wave and new romantic music, such as Boy George and Culture Club, Adam Ant, The Smiths, Duran Duran, Depeche Mode, The Fixx, and The Cure. So, you can find me at concerts when any of these folks come to town, or dancing at any of the ‘80s nights in downtown Orlando. Independent Bar’s Saturday-night ‘80s alt night is my favorite. I also collect vinyl records and vintage gear and clothes. I frequent the Rock & Roll Heaven record store and Park Ave CDs.

OFM: Are you a fan of any local eateries?

CS: Pom Pom’s Teahouse & Sandwicheria has always been a favorite. As well as having amazing teas and fantastic sandwiches, they also support the local Orlando art scene by displaying and selling work by Orlando artists.

OFM: What are some of your favorite local galleries or museums?

CS: Orlando Museum of Art, Casselberry Art House, Mount Dora Center for the Arts, Maitland Art Center, Rollins’ Cornell Fine Arts Museum, Morse Museum, and any local special art event at any of the Greater Orlando galleries and museums.

OFM: Given how important they are to our region’s economics, we have to ask: What’s your favorite local theme park?

CS: As a Harry Potter fan, I would definitely have to say Universal.

A shortened version of this article originally appeared in Orlando Family Magazine’s March 2017 issue.