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Arts and Entertainment: Arts Center Gears Up for Big Weekend
December 3rd, 2008

Arts and Entertainment: Gallery Walk to Kick Off Holidays
November 4th, 2008

Arts and Entertainment: First Art Exhibit of Season
October 30th, 2008

Arts and Entertainment: Arts Center Plans Children`s Art Classes
June 13th, 2008

Arts and Entertainment: Student Art Featured at Arts Center
May 2nd, 2008

Arts and Entertainment: Highwaymen Movie Offered Thursday
April 15th, 2008

Arts and Entertainment: Enter the World of Connie Nelson
April 4th, 2008

Arts and Entertainment: Call to Artists
March 22nd, 2008

Arts and Entertainment: Benefit Lunch for Children`s Art Program
March 7th, 2008

Arts and Entertainment: Arts Center Plans March Opening
February 29th, 2008

Arts and Entertainment: 3-D Show Coming Saturday at Arts Center
January 29th, 2008

Arts and Entertainment: Rock the Boat Art Show Displays New Talent
December 1st, 2007

Arts and Entertainment: Arts Center Opens Vibrant Show
November 12th, 2007

Arts and Entertainment: And the Winner Is......!
May 23rd, 2007

Arts and Entertainment: Rawlings Conference Continues Through Saturday
April 13th, 2007

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The Bold Imagery of Artist Willie Smith

The Bold Imagery of Artist Willie Smith

Maureen Landress

Remember as a child how you'd lie back on a patch of soft summer grass and watch the clouds pass by over head? In their billowing, windswept countenances one could see the most amazing things. Each child saw something different; here a rabbit, there a knight on horseback, and over there a soaring eagle. Local artist Willie Smith has managed to capture that fleeting imagery in the abstract canvases that he paints.

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The uniqueness of each painting makes it difficult to describe Willie's work with mere words on a page. They must be experienced one-on-one. Each canvas is a one-of-a-kind impression capturing light, shadow, texture and imagination. The layered paint seems deceptively random at first glance; but look again and you will see rich bold strokes give way to more subtle hints of color. It is the expert layering of those colors that give the work its depth and meaning. They draw the eye and cause one to linger in deliberation of the thought behind the creation. Each viewer walks away with their own interpretation of what they have seen, just like those cloud images of childhood.

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A graduate of York College in Pennsylvania, Willie spent a number of years running his own graphic design firm. The company was very successful, but he dreamed of one day concentrating on his art, and not limiting his creativity to the needs of the job.

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Willie ended up in Cedar Key like lots of others do, by mere chance. A friend had asked him to lay down some blues tracks (he is an accomplished guitarist) at his home studio here, so Willie came to Cedar Key and fell in love with it's beauty, slow pace and friendly people. Every visit it was harder and harder to leave, so one day he just didn't.

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Willie is a member of the 12artists@cedarkey group, and his work is currently on display as part of their exhibit at the Island Hotel on 2nd Street in Cedar Key.

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