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ABOUT THE ARTIST
Lynda was born and raised in the beautiful
Finger Lakes region of upstate New York, and graduated from the State University
of New York (Stony Brook) in 1968 with BA in Sociology. She spent
2 years with US Peace Corps in Ethiopia as a teacher. She received
a Masters in Occupational Therapy from Texas Women’s University in 1982,
and has worked as an Occupational Therapist at Baylor Medical Center (Dallas)
and Veteran’s Medical Center (Dallas) for 25 years.
Lynda began gourd crafting in 1996. She has shown yearly at the
Texas Gourd Show since 1998, and received many awards there, including Best
of Show in 2003. She recently displayed her gourds at the Kerrville Arts and
Cultural Center where she received an honorable mention. Currently her gourds
are on display at The Artisans’ Gallery in Bishop Arts District, Oak Cliff
(Dallas).
ARTIST STATEMENT
Born in the upstate New York countryside, I grew up looking to nature
for craft ideas and materials. I would gather "artist’s fungus" from
trees and etch on their soft white undersides, or wait for them to dry and
use a woodburner to make my designs. My friends and I would make acorn
necklaces or pipes. Every year we waxed colorful leaves in the fall,
and used natural greens and berries to decorate for Christmas. Over
the years I have experimented with various media, but have always gravitated
back to working with natural materials. I loved art in school but
opted to pursue a social work degree and later switched to occupational
therapy because it used crafts for therapy. Today I still use crafts daily
in my work and I have introduced gourd crafting to my patients.
Lynda Beth Smith
214-339-7599
PO Box 764767
Dallas, Texas 75376
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