Get to Know the Austin Artist:
Erica Dawn Smith has spent most of her career working in the entertainment industry as a professional scenic artist. She grew up in a small town in southern Indiana, earned a bachelor's degree in set design from Indiana University, then completed a scenic painting internship at Yale School of Drama. She then went on to paint and design professionally, doing short stints in Massachusetts and California, then spending eight years in Nashville before eventually moving to Texas in 2013.

After giving birth to her daughter in 2017, Erica left the hectic pace of the film and television industry in Austin to settle into an inspired, peaceful life on the family ranch in Blanco. In her garden studio, surrounded by native plants and animals, she paints softly detailed works in acrylic that honor the awe-inspiring moments that occur when we slow down and observe the natural world around us.