Close & Far: Celia Smith and Gil Ortiz

Name: Close & Far: Celia Smith and Gil Ortiz
Start: 2026-03-27T17:00:00-05:00
End: 2026-03-27T21:00:00-05:00
Location: Cider Gallery

Schedule

Fri Mar 27 2026 at 05:00 pm to 09:00 pm

UTC-05:00

Location

Cider Gallery | Lawrence, KS

Close & Far: Celia Smith and Gil Ortiz
Opening reception: March 27th, Final Fridays.
Celia Smith
I am delighted to be in this show with Gil Ortiz, who I appreciate very much as a friend and fellow artist. While my roots are much more recently from Spain, I discovered that Gil also traces his roots to Spain. We found that we had both our heritage and our love for art in common. While trying to think of a name for our show, I thought that in the time we have been sharing rides to and from Lawrence Art Guild meetings and participating in Art Guild exhibitions, we have become CLOSE in spite of being so FAR removed in age. Truly, art has no age!
Biography
I was born in Malaga, Spain and lived most of my formative years living in the city of Madrid during the winters and in the fishing village of Torremolinos during the summers. I was the youngest of seven children and one of my sisters and I (the one closest to me in age) enjoyed painting for fun from a young age. We would make portraits of the children of fishermen and of friends and family. We both attended the Escuela de Artes y Oficios in Madrid, where I studied drawing and working with clay, but when it came time to attend the university, I decided that I needed to become independent of my sister. She studied painting at the Saint Ferdinand School of Fine Arts and I attended the University of Madrid majoring in History and Art History. Both of us loved hiking and for a graduation gift, our father treated us to a hiking trip in the Pyrenees.
After graduation, I received a scholarship to study in Boston. I met my husband, Bob, there and he followed me back to Spain. We married there and lived on the southern coast where he found work helping to build the American naval base in Rota. We lived in a house on the beach and that is where I painted my first large painting. Soon we had our first of three children and life got busier. The years that followed were busy travelling while Bob finished his degree, worked different jobs and we added two more children to our family. During this time, we lived in Washington D.C., Albuquerque and Cuba, New Mexico, Bloomington, Indiana, Spain (again) and Trujillo, Peru. Finally, we made our final home base in Lawrence, Kansas, when Bob was hired by the University of Kansas as a Professor of Anthropology in 1967.
In Lawrence I continued to paint and joined the Art Guild. We continued to travel during the summers, packing up the kids, getting in the car and camping. We travelled to many places in the country and through friends of the family, we found a wonderful spot in Idaho. There we bought a cabin and enjoyed spending summers hiking, swimming and picking huckleberries. During all of these travels and hikes, I always carried my sketch book and would stop to sketch flowers, wildlife, landscapes and anything that caught my fancy. After the kids grew up, Bob and I travelled to Spain, Mexico, South America, Greece, Italy and England, sometimes following routes of explorers or seeing where famous literary figures “lived”. I have used these trips and the sketches from my lifelong collection to create my paintings. Many of these paintings depict stories from different cultures. Other paintings convey feelings and represent different periods in my life.
At one point I had to choose whether I wanted to go the gallery route or the art show route with my art. Though both have their advantages, I decided to go the art show route. I love talking to people about what they like and what they don’t like. The interaction with artists across the country has been wonderful and I have met so many different and interesting people. I have shown in many places and won many awards over the years. I have kept a scrap book, which is fun to look at from time to time. It is always gratifying to know that others appreciate your work. I was honored, one year, to create the Phoenix Awards in Lawrence, as well. In 2008, I became a Phoenix Award recipient, which has meant a great deal to me.
Over the years many things have changed, but my love of walking, sketching, painting and my continuing connection with the art world has been constant. I continue to paint in my home studio and will continue to do so as long as I can!
Artist’s Statement:
The Nature and Significance of my Work
I call my work symbolic and representational, though it is not realistic. I start from nature: people and plants and trees and animals. Using sketches made in the field, I compose pieces, some based on myths, some on traditional ballads, some on parables and biblical passages, some on feelings, and many are symbolical interpretations of life “as it is”, with the positive and the negative forces at play, at odds or in balance.
I like to paint the contrasts in life, for example, what is beautiful versus what is decaying, what is touching and vulnerable versus what is full of promise and strength and happiness. I also like to paint ideals, such as peace and peaceful living together of different cultures. Being myself a product of cultural diversity and experiences, I have a strong conviction that if we all (the world) knew each other better, we would get along much better.
Painting is within me. I have painted all my life: it provides me with great enjoyment and it is what occupies the major part of my time. I started with traditional watercolors, still lifes, landscapes, and portraits in charcoal and pencil. Later, acrylic paint and ink became my media of choice.
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Gil Ortiz
It was a great honor to be able to show with Celia Smith, she has been a great inspiration and friend of mine for many years. She came up with this title for the show and automatically I agreed with it for it makes sense that we create from memories “Close and Far” I hope you enjoy our collaboration as much as I cherish her friendship.
Biography
Growing up in the breathtaking mountains of Southwest Colorado has truly shaped my artistic journey, surrounded by inspiring people and fueled by the unwavering support of my amazing parents and partner. I can't thank my family and friends enough for their encouragement along the way! With my years of experience in Graphic Design and Fine Arts, creativity flows through my veins. Whether I'm painting, drawing, or bringing ideas to life on my computer, I'm always eager to create.
Artist Statement
My Journey Through Creativity and Design -
I’ve been painting and drawing for as long as I can remember. What began as childhood creativity grew into a lifelong passion and ultimately a career. I earned my degree in Visual Communications from the Colorado Institute of Art, knowing I wanted to remain in a creative field. Graphic design became the path that allowed me to combine artistic expression with meaningful communication.
Over the past 30+ years, I’ve built a career shaped by growth, collaboration, and accomplishment. I’ve received Direct Marketing awards in Kansas City, along with recognition for both nonprofit and commercial advertising work. Each project has been an opportunity to help organizations tell their stories visually and effectively.
My artwork has also been credited in scientific magazines and books. I’ve had the privilege of designing several engineering publication covers for the University of Kansas, now displayed in the LEEP2 Department of Engineering building — a meaningful reminder of how art and education intersect.
Beyond my professional work, I served nearly three years as Secretary of the Lawrence Art Guild and remain active in the local arts community. Art has never been just a career for me — it’s a lifelong thread connecting my earliest memories to the creative work I continue to do today.