Born in Kingston-Upon Thames, England, Ronia Smits is an Anglo-American landscape / botanical painter. Even as a small child living respectively in England and Africa, the flora and landscape of each country had a soothing influence on her, gently nudging her toward pursuing a degree in painting/textile design at what is now the University of Brighton in Sussex, England. On many memorable occasions in England, accompanied by her father and grandmother, she would go for long walks in the woods of the beautiful Surrey countryside to collect wildflowers. Those were less enlightened times before the concern that we would lose our wildflowers if people continued to pick them. She likes to think that she was merely pruning! In Africa she painted predominantly the red hibiscus flowers from her garden and the exotic flame lilies that grew abundantly along the roadside in the golden savanna of the African bush. Even on trips to game parks her eyes were roaming for flora as well as fauna. A lion or a rare white rhino was always a thrill to see, but then so was a rare lily.
Upon arriving in California, she was inspired by the incredible scenery-a painter’s delight–and the variety of wildflowers of both the coastal regions and in and around the East Bay, where she now lives.
Yet if you were to find her a humble weed, a cultivated plant, a bug, or a photo of a field mouse, she would have been sure to have given it the same loving attention. Things were going well. She had several solo exhibitions. And then, quite literally, in the blink of an eye, her world changed. She sustained a serious eye injury while watering a houseplant.
The detailed botanical paintings, for which she is known, became more and more difficult, resulting in her full-time transition to landscape painting. Influenced by the French and Californian Impressionists and, perhaps surprisingly, Walt Disney, she applies the same joy of color, spontaneity and lightness of touch to her oil landscapes, as she did to her botanical paintings. Upon occasion she also paints oil portraits of friends. She is currently involved in local East Bay venues/galleries and Art Selection Committees; and has work in private and corporate collections throughout England and the United States, with clients that include Wells Fargo Bank, San Francisco, CA.
Ronia Explains:
“Life can be so fast paced that sometimes we forget to stop and appreciate what is around us. I hope that I contribute in some small way to making others more aware. To find beauty in the wonderful colors of nature; to consider extraordinary the way a landscape transforms from moment to moment with the changing light; the pattern made by a worm or disease-in a leaf, a piece of tree bark, or a flower; to view with affection, a tiny bug going about its business. And to remember that no matter where life takes us, we are part of this remarkable process.”
Botanical III
By Ronia Smits (Oil on Canvas) 11 x 9 Inches
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Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Vestibulum pulvinar risus at nisl consectetur, vel dapibus lacus euismod. In vitae orci non urna venenatis posuere. Maecenas et fermentum turpis. Suspendisse in nunc sem. Morbi dapibus sem nec mi accumsan, et tincidunt nisl pellentesque. Suspendisse sed nulla a est cursus consequat. Curabitur elementum orci ut ligula dignissim, in egestas purus vestibulum. Nam ac tempor metus. Fusce id tempus libero. Donec nec ipsum ornare, mattis est at, placerat est. Orci varius natoque penatibus et magnis dis parturient montes, nascetur ridiculus mus. Nam elit lorem, egestas quis volutpat a, tincidunt id metus. Maecenas at ante risus. Quisque euismod turpis erat, non sodales tellus venenatis id. Aliquam iaculis nibh justo, ut eleifend eros pulvinar interdum. In hac habitasse platea dictumst.
Nam varius iaculis erat, sed vestibulum enim dictum blandit. Donec ac orci diam. Morbi posuere, dui placerat fringilla ultrices, nisl lectus convallis eros, quis faucibus augue mi at odio. Quisque aliquam maximus facilisis. Donec vel fermentum metus. Duis hendrerit euismod arcu eget tincidunt. Proin malesuada nulla in risus congue accumsan. Cras sed congue ex, a bibendum turpis. Nulla viverra arcu pretium odio lobortis tincidunt. Suspendisse potenti.
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