Painter Guinn Powell and Sculptor Todd Smith, a couple for more than 20 years, are joining forces for the
Two Spirit exhibit at the Oak Lawn Library.
Longtime couple creates first art exhibition together
RICH LOPEZ | Staff writer
rich@dallasvoice.com
Guinn Powell and Todd Smith’s East Dallas home feels like a sanctuary. Deep in the Junius Heights neighborhood, the two live in beautifully designed interiors with a peaceful koi pond and lush foliage in the backyard. Their space is certainly inspired. And perhaps it’s that inspiration that drives their artistic endeavors.
When he’s not serving as a creative designer for the Dallas Morning News, Powell is a painter. His works evoke both his heritage and history. Smith is a sculptor who creates shapes and images through driftwood. The two have been together for more than 20 years, but they have have just embarked on a new first as a couple.
“Guinn has done shows before, but this will be my first one,” Smith said.
“And as a married couple, this show is the two of us coming together for the first time as artists,” Powell added.
Powell and Smith are featured in this month’s exhibition, Two Spirit, currently on display at the Oak Lawn Library throughout October. The exhibition features about 20 pieces from both artists, and an artists’ reception will be held at the library on Saturday, Oct. 8, from 1-3 p.m.
“It’s singular because we are two artists coming together as one for this,” Smith said.
With such distinctly different media, the two curated the show mostly to each’s own tastes. They acknowledge that there isn’t an underlying dialogue between their art. In fact, they really kind of stay out of each other’s way when creating — unless one asks for feedback from the other.
For Two Spirit, Powell and Smith went with their individual gut feelings on what to present.
“Everything really happened naturally, but we didn’t coordinate any relation between our works,” Powell said. “For me, I start off by thinking ‘I have a deadline to create pieces for a show.’ I start churning away at work. That’s how my ideas come to me in the moment,” Powell said.
With an Afro-centric perspective, many of Powell’s pieces stem from archival images he finds via the Library of Congress. “That gives me the imagery I want to work with. I take that and convert it into what I’m actually thinking at the time,” he explained.
Powell sees his work for the exhibition as more of a collective. That focus on similar themes tells him he’s on the right path. In Two Spirit, he presents several landscapes but also presents an historic nod to rural living.
“I want to invite the viewer into the pieces and let them decide what speaks to them,” he added.
Appropriately enough for his driftwood art, Smith describes it as an organic process.
“I can start with one piece, and the wood tells me what direction I’m going or what the story is going to be,” he said. “It really comes alive the moment I follow the direction of the driftwood.
Smith not only creates sculptural pieces, he also creates table bases with the driftwood that he harvests from nearby White Rock Lake.
“There is the feeling inside because this thing was alive at one time, and so I do have this sense that it’s telling me something,” he said.
Before retiring to commit to art full time, Smith worked as a floral designer. He said plants and trees always felt right, and his background was always in or around beautification and nature.
“It just really feeds my soul,” he said.
Two Spirit features both his sculptures and tablework.
Powell has shown at the Oak Lawn Library before in solo shows, but both feel a connection to exhibiting their work in the middle of the Gayborhood.
“It feels good to show here, and we’re so thankful there is a space like that and that we’re here,” Smith said.
The two are looking forward to their reception on Saturday and to introducing their art to the public.
“I hope people like it so much they tell their friends,” Powell said and reminded that all works are open for purchase.
“When people see my work and they want to take it home, that means so much.”
For his first show, Smith said he hasn’t had any nerves about his work being out there and doesn’t mind flexing his
artistic muscle.
“I hope people are moved when they see Guinn’s work. And I hope my pieces can evoke something in the viewers. Art adds something to my soul that wasn’t there before, so I hope people can come away with that same sort of connection.”
Two Spirit runs through Oct. 29 at the Oak Lawn Library; artist reception 1-3 p.m. Saturday. See the artists’ work at GuinnPowell.com and DriftwoodTodd.com.