Hello! My name is Kitty Smothers. I'm 33 and I’m from Troy, Alabama. My dad is an artist and he inspired me to paint when I was just a little girl. I began to really get excited about painting portraits after high school. Then after painting only portraits for 12 years, I found the passion went out of my painting and it seemed more like a job than anything else. I only recently decided to go back to painting for pleasure instead of merely as a means of financial supplement. Making the change from commissions to personal work has been overwhelming. I didn’t know where to start, what to paint. I was so overwhelmed with wanting to paint so many things that I couldn’t choose one place to focus my energy. My goal now is to paint what I want to paint when I want to paint it. I want to be free to paint in a more fluid, painterly style, without having to strain and stress over getting every single detail right. Now I feel like I’ve been reborn into painting. I do enjoy doing the occasional portrait, however, there is such an excitement in having the freedom to choose the subject and to have fun throwing paint onto the canvas. The things I desire to paint are usually related to the South – the music, the people, the land and trees and water, the church, the farm, etc. As I age, I find that I like to surround myself with things that remind me of my rural upbringing, and capture the beauty of the unplugged, simple life. I remain frustrated daily because there are so many ideas charging through my head and not enough time to produce all of it. But it’s a good frustration because it fuels the passion in my work. I also enjoy drawing, playing guitar, music of many styles, being out on the boat with my husband, and spending time as a happy family with our two young girls.