Our Studio Sunday artist for the week is Jada Pinkett-Smith. While she is best known as an actor, staring in films such as The Nutty Professor with Eddit Murphie, and the Matrix and Madagascar franchises. Pinkett-Smith also keeps up a studio practice, reportedly spending time each Saturday working on her paintings. According to news sources, her paintings are generally abstract, featuring large splashes of color. The one pictured in the photo has a very contemporary look to it, with soft, earthy tones serving as a backdrop to hard, black brush marks.

Pinkett-Smith’s studio, pictured above, looks like a really pleasant space. It definitely has a home-studio feeling, with the upholstered chair and what looks like a white shag carpet in the foreground of the image. I think it would be pretty dangerous to have a white carpet in an art studio, but Pinkett-Smith appears to be keeping it relatively clean!

Each of the three easels in the photo holds a painting on the go. I like the size variation between the paintings – from the giant canvas that the artist pictured working on, to the small, two-foot canvas that rests on the easel next to her. It’s also fun to see all those big tubs of paint on the shelf in the background.

Judging from the apparatus on the ceiling, it appears as though this space has a garage door that can be opened to let in more light and air. That would be pretty great in the summer, especially. Pinkett-Smith resides in Malibu, Florida, with her husband Will Smith, so it’s likely that there would be warm air in this studio during most of the year.

While Pinkett-Smith keeps her paintings as more of a hobby, she has been known to share photos of her works on her social media accounts. Her practice joins the ranks of other celebrity artists like David Lynch, who are famous for things other than their painting.  

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