Emily ONEMANBANDIT Smith turns heads. When she walks into a room, people can’t help but spill their drinks, shift their attention, and forget about whatever the hell they were talking about. Sure, she has tall, chiseled Ralph Lauren model looks, but it’s really her air of jovial accessibility that makes her so appealing to friends and strangers alike. I mean, she can talk to ANYONE as if they had been life long best friends, even complete strangers; and that laugh that is so big bold and undeniably infectious can make even the most socially awkward person feel tingly warm and accepted.

I respect her role as a fierce mother to two mop-headed sons, perfectly cloned creatures to her bright persona; I adore her work as a mixed media artist and designer of re-purposed vintage clothing because it’s not only singular and stylized, but also kick ass in every way; in fact, one of my favorite things in my closet is a pair of ankle high Merlot colored mod boots she gifted me a couple years ago, and even though they’re a half size too small, I wear them often (despite my scrunched toes) because they not only look incredible, but they make me feel sexy, mean, and loudly relevant…which is also a great way to describe the ONEMANBANDIT.

Edible Culture is featuring a couple of Emily’s paintings for sale on the website in March as part of our celebration of Women’s History Month - If you like it, buy it - if you don’t like it, buy it anyway because it will be worth a lot of money someday! Check out her bio below - Thump Thump!

“Emily Smith is a Northwest Arkansas artist who specializes in one of a kind, multi-dimensional, upcycled art. Over the years, she has honed her craft in various mediums, including mixed media, collage, sustainable fashion, recycled jewelry design, and photography. Her style is bold, aloof, and abstract, as her creations are molded slowly over time, changing course throughout, adding layers, then stripping away, usually ending up in a different spot all together. Using found and discarded objects as her canvas and subject matter, Emily seizes the opportunity to spotlight man's degradation of the Earth by adding beauty where there once was none. She finds character and soul within discarded items and transforms them into timeless, contemporary, vibrant statement pieces. She's been a featured artist in the NWA Sensory Iconoclast artist collaboration, and spoken at Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art/ WOW (Wednesday Over Water) event for the past two years, selected into the juried 'Women in Art' spring exhibition, and exhibited her works all over Northwest Arkansas, including Arts Center of the Ozarks in downtown Springdale, Tourmaline Ufban Lofts in downtown Bentonville, and The Walker Stone House in downtown Fayetteville as part of last year's Winter Solstice celebration. Emily currently sits on the Brightwater Salon Series planning committee and has worked both behind the scenes and as a featured fashion artist for NWA Fashion Week, noted for her unique sense of sustainable style and sensibility by the likes of Citiscapes and The Idle Class. She has been creating her vibrant style of art in the Fayetteville area since 2007, when she was first in charge of visual merchandising for the famous Fayetteville favorite, Cheap Thrills. You can follow Emily and her artistic take on sustainability on Instagram @theonemanbandit”.