Charleston native Shannon Smith is a painter sensitive to light and attentive to detail and the contrasts of warm and cool colors. Many of her paintings show the fading light of late afternoon hours and have dramatic darks and subdued grey tones juxtaposed with warmer, more radiant hues. Of her work she says, "I'm inspired by the drama of light interacting with the subject or a mood created by a scene, telling us stories."

Born and raised in the Lowcountry, she has painted many canvases inspired by the beauty of coastal landscapes and scenes of downtown Charleston. However, Smith has also painted in Europe and studied with artists outside her region including Kim English and Gregg Kreutz.

For Smith, art has always...