Since I was a child, I’ve sought as many outlets for creative expression as possible. Once I learned to focus and concentrate, the two paths I’ve followed most diligently are visual art and creative writing.
My visions are inspired by Nature, dreams and fantasies— both the wonders of the world around me and the inner world inside my head. Guided by stories and myths and my own desires, I’ve developed and populated quite a vast interior universe. The figures I draw and paint are emissaries from that world.
I draw with pens and pencils and paint in watercolors and acrylics. I’ve also dabbled in ceramic sculpture, mask-making and collages. Lately, as I’ve been sketching from nature more often, I’ve been playing with the idea of the genius loci — the spirit of place. Personifying aspects of the world around me is a way of bridging the outside world with my interior world through art.
I was born and raised in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Coming from a place where one can’t escape the seasons (which are sometimes enjoyed, sometimes endured), I feel very much connected to the natural world, even in the city. This connection is what makes me a kind of Pagan. I see Nature as the setting of countless dramas, unfolding often unnoticed and underfoot. To give the characters human faces and attributes reveals the players to a human audience.
My worldview is shaped by the striking a balance of observations from life with my love of stories. I look to facts for knowledge and to myths for wisdom.
I’ve shown artwork at the Crossroads Festival and at the Pagan Art Gala (an art show sponsored by Magus Books) in the mid-1990s; in 2004 co-developed (with Paul B. Rucker) a multi-artist show called “Erotic Angels” which was exhibited in the downtown Minneapolis Warehouse District. I have twice been a participant in the “Foot In The Door” show exhibition at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts (1990 and 2010). I've displayed paintings in the Mezzalogo Gallery (2008) in South Minneapolis. I've also shown work at The Third Offering Gallery at Paganicon for three successive years (2013-2015). I have most recently completed an extensive mural project for the Blue Nile Restaurant in South Minneapolis, with co-artists Anna Halverson and Sindibad.
I’ve modeled for at least one painting and assisted with makeup and body paint for artistic photo-sessions and rituals. I’ve also been known to recite poetry and even sing a few songs at open mic nights around town, my favorites of which are at Irish bars.
Riawa Thomas-Smith lives with her husband, and two chatty parakeets, in the Loring Neighborhood in South Minneapolis.
Painting Gallery (Gallery of Mural Work below Painting Gallery)
"Water Loa" (acrylic on canvas, 2014)
"The Russian Olive Tree's Missing Sister" (acrylic on canvas, 2014)
"Flight of Blodeuwydd" (acrylic on canvas, 2013)
"Flame Dancer" (acrylic on canvas, 1994)
"Dance of Origins" (acrylic on canvas, 2015)
"Black Angel" (acrylic on canvas, 1994)
Blue Nile Restaurant (Minneapolis) Mural Gallery (artist at work):
Moon Face and Coptic Style Angel (acrylic mural, 2014-2015)
Riawa painting a figure, with curtain opening onto Cairo (2015)
Riawa painting her Horus pillar (2015)
Osiris pillar and Sphinx on wall (acrylic mural, 2014-2015)