Most of Smokie Kittner’s artwork over the past decade has been pastel on rag paper, with larger scale works being done in oil.  Pastel is generally her medium of choice because of the purity of the color and because it is free from gloss, making the surface appear soft and seductive. The dichotomy between the lushness of the color and surface and the starkness of most of the images is the cornerstone of the art.  The visual elements used serve as symbols.  Light as well as dark has been used to obscure what lies beyond.  Architectonic elements are also used to obscure or limit what is visible.  Though the artist is not interested in the viewer knowing what the underlying idea in any given piece is, in general these works are a personal contemplation on the world and the cosmos and our place in them.