About Edie Smith

Edie Smith is an emerging mixed-media collage artist whose primary medium is paper.  Her signature technique is to combine various types of paper (handmade, shimmer, patterned, foiled, cardstock, and more), along with silk flower pieces in various shapes to create a mosaic pattern. The diversity of the pattern gives purpose and speaks to the endless possibilities of the art form. 

The inspiration for Smith’s work was a natural progression from her original creative craft – handmade greeting cards.    Designing handmade greeting cards with an art-focused design afforded Smith the opportunity to explore bold colors and patterns.  Customer feedback revealed that many of the cards purchased were being framed and kept as a keepsake. This revelation was instrumental in Smith’s transition from designing cards to creating collage art.

Over the course of three years, Smith’s card art became the basis of her art conception as a whole.  In 2021, she re-purposed her greeting card craft to include collage art.   Her current work includes collages in the form of paper mosaics and paper stained-glass.   The bold colors of the paper and the shimmer of the mosaic patterns create the illusion of natural light that penetrates stained-glass.  The integrity of a stained-glass mosaic does not admit light, but it controls the light by enhancing the color experiences of everything around it.  The use of shapes to form a mosaic pattern embodies the diversity that gives art purpose.

Smith is currently a member of the Women of Visions, Inc., a collective of African American women artists dedicated to the advancement of art, culture, and history.  Two of Smith’s art pieces, Secret Garden, 2022 and Let-it-Shine, 2022 were recently exhibited at
“Future Visions” at the Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh, PA, for the Women of Visions, Inc. 40th Anniversary Exhibition, May 28 – June 12, 2022.

Smith is self-taught.  “I am forever learning and discovering the purpose of art.”