Gemma Smart - Decorative Artist

Gemma; the creative director of smART Decorative Arts, has been involved in the arts in one way or another, for as long as she can remember.

Gemma’s love of the arts began in childhood. She would draw and paint at any opportunity; if she wasn’t creating artworks of all shapes and sizes, Gemma was reading, all to the sound track of her father’s Thin Lizzy, Led Zeppelin and Fleetwood Mac records. At school Gemma was introduced to ceramics and graphic design, and developed new interests in history and science; these subjects, underpinned by a continuing love affair with music, literature and the outdoors, would shape the direction of Gemma’s future work.

In 2000 Gemma left her home in the Midlands for Wales, to study Fine Art; specialising in Ceramics. Adamant she would not follow her home county ceramic traditions and make ‘teapots’, Gemma spent the next few years developing her skills and understanding of contemporary fine art. During her four years of study at Swansea Institute of Higher education, Gemma experimented with clay, paint, print and surface pattern techniques; gaining a Bachelor of Arts degree in Fine Art with honours. Inspired and fascinated by the natural world; Gemma’s work developed into the study of textures and surfaces, the organic and inorganic, the geometric and chaotic. In essence the decorative surfaces of our natural and manmade world.

In 2003 Gemma exhibited at the New Designers show in London; from 2003 to 2005 Gemma was involved in several exhibitions in Swansea, Cardiff and the Midlands.

Following the completion of her Bachelors degree, Gemma was offered a place on the MA Fine Art at SIHE; however, there was a problem - Gemma had fallen out of love with art, or more specifically the ‘art world’. After two months of struggling to reconcile her feelings of discontent and a distinct lack of motivation to produce anything new, Gemma made the difficult decision to withdraw from the Master of Arts course. Apart from one or two aborted attempts, it would be over 13 years before Gemma began to produce original art work again.

Gemma Smart - Conservation Consultant

Following a few years of working various administrative and design based jobs, Gemma made the decision to retrain in the field of conservation and restoration; seeking to combine her fine art and art history training with her love of history and science.

Completing the Graduate Diploma in Conservation Studies at the University of Lincoln, in 2009, Gemma was awarded a Distinction and the NADFAS bursary for outstanding achievement. This provided the grounding for Gemma to undertake the Master of Arts degree in the Conservation of Historic Objects, again earning a Distinction. Whilst studying for her Masters, Gemma worked with Crick Smith at the University of Lincoln. Over three years she was mentored by the Crick Smith UoL team, who provided training and guidance in Architectural Paint Research, the conservation of decorative surfaces and finishes, project and site management.

In 2013 Gemma set up Smart Conservation; seeking to provide cost effective freelance heritage consultancy and conservation services. She continued to develop her knowledge of conservation and heritage management by undertaking the Master of Science degree in Sustainable Heritage at the Bartlett School of Architecture, University College London. It was here that Gemma developed an interest in legislation as it relates to tangible and intangible heritage; specifically listed building legislation in the UK, planning and listed building consent. As a freelance conservator and architectural paint researcher Gemma worked for a number of established conservation companies, private clients, English Heritage and the National Trust amongst others.

In 2016 Gemma took a position with Campbell Smith and Co Ltd, as a project manager, later being promoted to Head of Research and Conservation. During her time with the company Gemma successfully managed a wide range of specialist decorating and conservation projects, from tender through to completion; for clients such as the Royal Household, National Trust, English Heritage, and a range of high profile private clients. On joining Campbell Smith, Gemma was in the middle of a consultancy for Battersea Arts Centre, to conserve the fire damaged surfaces of the Grand Hall. This project was taken over by Campbell Smith, with Gemma continuing to act as lead consultant, and has since been awarded the RIBA London Award 2019 and Stage Theatre of the year Award. In her roles for Campbell Smith Gemma provided guidance and training to the conservation site manager and wider team, and developed Campbell Smith’s freelance conservation team. Creating and developing documentation for the business; Gemma introduced processes to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of the team both on and off site. During her time with Campbell Smith and Co, Gemma further developed her knowledge of quality processes, health and safety, and construction industry contracts.

Since June 2019, and marking a decade working within the field of conservation and heritage, Gemma has returned to running her own business; working as the senior heritage consultant and creative director of smART Decorative Arts.

Breaking the Art Hiatus!

In 2014 Gemma took six months out to travel around South East Asia and it was here that she began to rediscover her passion for the arts beyond conservation; most importantly she began to feel a desire to create work again. Throughout her travels she kept a journal, picked up a set of watercolours and pencils, and got to work.

On her return to the UK Gemma had grand plans to continue with her sketching and start to paint again, but a move to London to take up a contract with Eura Conservation and the Kew Gardens Temperate House project meant there was little time or space in her Twickenham flat to get started. So again the art hiatus was back in force and despite her re-energised creative desires, it would not be until mid-2018 that it would be truly broken.

In early 2018 Gemma was living a fairly typical London lifestyle, but it was about to catch up with her and ultimately resulted in her needing to take six weeks off to recover from burn out. Gemma spent a couple of weeks back home in the Midlands with her family; with time and space in abundance, she began to paint and the idea for the Uncovered series was born.

In 2019 Gemma, her partner John, and dog Cav left London for Kent, to move into their 15th Century Wealden Hall House; affectionately now known as SmartWell Manor.

It was this move that prompted Gemma to set up smART Decorative Arts, to provide decorative arts and historic interiors consultancy services, and work on her original artworks full time.

Artist Statement

My work is inspired by my fascination with the natural world and the study of textures and surfaces. Organic and inorganic, ordered and chaotic; I find the decorative surfaces of our natural and manmade world captivating.

I take inspiration for my original paintings, prints and crafts from my work as a conservator and heritage consultant. During my career in conservation, now spanning two decades, I have had the privilege to work on and to conserve, restore and reinstate some of the nations most beautiful and important, historic interiors and objects. The combination of these experiences and my knowledge and skills as a fine and decorative artist, are used to create abstract pieces, which seek to portray the beauty and lustre of natural decay, patina and age. 

Gemma Smart - Creative Director smART Decorative Arts