Sasha Nikole Smith delights above all else in purity of form. This she loves to contrive, not only for aesthetic sake, but so that she might impose it on the sketchbooks and canvasses around her.

A solid love of architecture has existed deep within since she was a young girl. During family road trips, she would look at old buildings and then use her fingers to trace and crisscross their imaginary lines on her pants, all the time wondering how they’d meet. Even then, to her, inherent beauty was prevalent, if not obvious, in the kind of structures that are not normally thought of as beautiful; she was drawn to the nerve and spirit of faded brick and bright stone.

“Love of architecture has always been my concentration and style,” says Smith. So long so that I have friends whom I haven’t seen forever still say things like, ‘Hey, Sasha, I haven’t seen you in ten years, are you still painting buildings?’ I guess that I’ve always wanted to be an architect.”

Buildings boasting the motif and flair of the late 1800s are Smith’s favorite subjects. Her experimentation with architectural acrylics began during trips to Europe, and her first exhibition, in 1997, showcased specific Old World architectural design components, including rough-hewn cobblestone and ornate arches.

These days, Smith is still intrigued by the tiniest details of bygone structural integrities: the timelessness of old slogans; the corrosion of metal; the staidness of industrial steel; the nature decomposition and devolvement of brick bulk. Applying an unerring eye for composition, focused on overlooked portions of structure, Smith’s acrylics – soft, insidious, enchanting – enhance the final perfection of form.

“There are areas of structure that I like,” says Smith. “I’ve always been interested in up close things. I used to like buildings as a whole, but now I’m more interested in parts. My art is a viewfinder’s image to the piece of the whole. I want viewers to use their imagination as to what the rest is like.”

A native of Montana, Smith, who has lived in Missoula since 2004, says that her experiences outside of Big Sky Country – including living abroad in Venezuela and France – have made her who she is as an artist.

“I realized my artistic obsession and passion for architecture when I was away,” says Smith. “Venezuela taught me how to focus on the finer points, and, in France, I became interested in drawing store front signs.”

When she sees something of aesthetic merit – a street sign, a beer advertisement, or a massive structure representing an older era – Smith will sketch it, photograph it, or paint a miniature version of the item using watercolors. Then, indulging in an impulse that’s firmly planted in her nature, she applies acrylics to transform her love and vision wholly into art.

Smith enjoys capturing the essence of what are referred to as “ghost signs” – faded sign paintings or billboards on brick sidewalls – of which perhaps the most well known in Missoula is the Atlantic Hotel advertisement, at 519 North Higgins Avenue. One of her signature paintings is of the large, vivid Labor Temple ghost sign easily visible on the west facade of Union Hall; another depicts a little bar near Havre, along Highway 2.

“I like finding small towns to document things,” says Smith. “Usually, I get my ideas accidentally. I went to Landusky to visit my grandmother recently, and we were out looking at old homesteads, and I happened upon this cabin that had burnt down, and was covered by huge piles of metal. I photographed parts of the metal, and that’s going to be a series of mine sometime.”

The first half of 2008 has been a busy time for Smith, and the second half should be equally frenetic: she has ample commission work lined up, as well as a plethora of shows, exhibits, and openings scheduled.

“I’m at the crossroads to go full force. Every show for me is a new series, with as many as 6 to 20 pieces involved, all depending on the size and space of the location. So I’m going full-throttle the next five months.”

Finding markets outside of the Missoula area is one of Smith’s biggest plans for the future. She hopes to expand and strengthen her support base in the region, including Seattle and Portland. And Smith looks upon the stylistic and vivid character of her artistic uniqueness as a vehicle for all her shaping aspirations.

“I haven’t seen a lot of work like mine out there,” says Smith. “As far as forging my style, I didn’t choose for it to be different; I’ve chosen to do what I do because it’s what I love.”

For more information, visit www.sashanikolesmith.com.