Ken Smith fine art

Tea Leaves 1. Archival Pigment Print on Paper on wood panel. 12″x12″.

This image is in a new show at Confluence Gallery, Twisp, WA. The show theme is Food for Thought, and is ongoing 8/24 to 10/3. 

Artist Statement – Food for Thought

I began to see abstract forms in the dregs of my teacups, and then started to collect images of them.

The Japanese stem tea with powdered matcha added, is my favorite morning gift. The small cup then let to dry on the kitchen windowsill, and like a soothsayer, I see patterns in the leavings.

A chance encounter with form. Organic form, like erosion, cracked paint or concrete, rust. The freezing or thawing of ice. Not made by human action, but caused by the mystic that is Nature. A meaningless meaning, somehow significant.

Garden. Oils, cold wax on wood panel. 12″x12″.

Tea Leaves 3. Archival Pigment Print on Paper on wood Panel. 12″x12″.

For some time I have been recording the dried patterns left in the bottom of my teacups. I began observing a kind of calligraphy, the stems, leaves, and stain of the tea. It feels organic and natural, this shuffling of forms. Seemingly insignificant, there is beauty in the abstract randomness of it.

Noh Mask, 2026

Exposed Landscape, 2026. Archival Pigment Print on Paper.
26″x20″ & 19-1/2″x15″. Limited edition of 15 both sizes.

Late Evening, 2026.  Archival Pigment Print on Paper. 20″x26″ & 15″x19-1/2″. Limited edition of 15 both sizes.

Winter Canyon, 2026. Archival Pigment Print on Paper. 19-1/2″x15″.
Limited edition of 15.

Bumblebee on Cherry. My fruit trees are in bloom, including this cherry tree. The small bumblebee is keeping to the work ethic, and I am glad for it.  A recent snapshot.

Stellar Hue. Archival Pigment Print on Paper. 26″x20″ & 19-1/2″x15″.
Limited edition of 15 both sizes.

Autumn Grass 2.  Archival Pigment Print on Paper. 26″x20″ & 19-1/2″x15″. Limited edition of 15 both sizes.