By DAVID DUPONT
BG Independent News
Isaac Smith is no stranger to the winner’s circle. His drawings have won him best of show at the 2016 Black Swamp Arts Festival and Bowling Green State University’s 2011 NOWOH exhibition.
On Saturday, The Bowling Green High School graduate won the Virtual Art Walk.
When the pandemic threatened canceled the event, Downtown Bowling Green and The Bowling Green Arts Council Arts Council decided to present a virtual event. Instead of having art displayed in shops throughout downtown with a central exhibit at the Wood County District Public Library, two dozen artists had one work displayed on Downtown BG website.
Sara Busler, office manager for Downtown BG, said 674 votes were cast – only one ballot per voter was counted. That’s more than the number of People’s Choice ballots that were cast when the event was held previously.
“We had a huge amount of participation,” Busler said. “We were very pleased with that many responses.”
Smith, a 2015 graduate of the Kendall School for Art and Design, was honored for “Phoenix.” The drawing of a female face done with graphite and white chalk on paper.
Smith said he entered the work because he was looking for a lift after being “trapped at home unable to work.”
For the past two years, Smith has focused on a new artistic medium – body art. He works as a tattoo artist in Secret Window Studio.
Hat’s evolved into a full-time endeavor that leaves him little time to draw on paper.
He enjoys the process of taking what he’s learned about art and creating “something on someone’s body that going to be there their whole life,” he said. “It’s an honor to be selected to do that.”
“Phoenix,” he said, comes from before he started focusing on body art, and reflects his approach to traditional drawing.
In the artistic statement on his website, Smith said he is attracted to drawing because of its immediacy. He gives him the ability to react to everyday moments. “I enjoy capturing the emotion, nuance, and nostalgia in the various intimate moments we experience in our daily lives with, at times, a touch of humor, irreverence, or quirkiness that I hope brings to mind a fond memory or the inspiration to create one.”
Creating a traditional drawing is a solitary experience. “I can take my time with it,” he said, maybe as long as five years to complete a piece.
That’s low pressure compared to the time constraints and stakes in tattooing. Every stroke is etched in skin, and is there for a lifetime.
And not solitary – customers usually bring someone along with them while the work is being done.
Smith said he’s done some drawing while at home. He’s participating in an art project, Apple a Day. Organized by a friend from college, artists create apple-related works that will be auctioned off to benefit food projects and other charities.
Second place went to Toledo artist Paul Brand for his watercolor seascape “Maine Surf.”
Third place went to Brenda Hofbauer for “Time for Paris,” a collage made from painted papers.
