Caroline Smith Biography
Born in 1943, studied at Reigate art College 1958-1961. Took the National Diploma in Design. Spent 1962/63 in Formantera, Corsica, and Elba. On her return she joined the design group Bayliss/Adams working for a year in advertising graphics. In 1964 she started work with Astrop Hill Design Associates as Fashion Artist and during the next few years became a regular contributor to Vogue, Harpers, Queen, Elle etc. she designed costumes for T.V. extravaganzas and personalities of the period. 1969 worked on illustration and fashion for Cosmopolitan magazine, Redbook and Macalls. 1970 married author artist John Astrop and in April 1971 had a son Ben. 1970-1975 most of her work was for Germany and Holland and during this period Caroline started to paint seriously. In 1978 Caroline was invited to exhibit her paintings at the Towner Art Gallery, Eastbourne in a one-woman show. The exhibition lead to several large commissions. 1979-1980 was commissioned by the Egyptian Government to paint three large murals in total about 45 feet by 10 feet, and design two glass doors for the Pyramids Hotel, Cairo. 1980-1981 Working on a commission of twelve paintings for the Shangri La Hotel in Hong Kong.1982-1983 Working on painting for the 1983 exhibition and private commissions.1984 One woman exhibition at Smith's Gallery, London. 1985 Commission for eighteen paintings for the Mandarin Hotel in Singapore completed. 1986 Spent the first part of the year in Northern Italy working on a series of paintings. 1987-1989 Caroline completed a new series of designs for a Tarot Deck published by Viking UK and Doubleday in the States. Some of the original paintings for this deck were the subject of an exhibition in Totem Gallery, Seaford in 1990. 1991 Open exhibition during Brighton Festival. In addition to private collections in Europe and America, Caroline's work is represented in the permanent collection of the V & A and the Los Angeles County Museum. 1992-1998 Exhibitions in France and Holland. Commissioned work for patrons in HongKong and Australia. 2003 Moved to SW France producing smaller works in fluenced by the new environment. 2004 -2007 Ran a small gallery of her work in the village of Bresdon. Started creating jewellery from rare artifacts and semi precious gems, each piece unique. www.decoratedwoman.com 2007 - 2008 Exhibitions in France, UK and Spain. 2010 - Exhibition, Chapelle des Benedictines, St Jean d'Angely. "Salome" www.ccsmith.eu
