During the Madison City Fine Arts Festival last week, students may have noticed a major portion of it was dedicated to the complex cloth designs that done by senior Madi Smith. She’s done several exceedingly recognizable pieces, and has created a style all her own.

Walking into Mrs. Lakso’s room, sporadically placed artists busily completed their pieces for the end of year. Many were carrying paint and props of all sorts, working in teams to lift a door sized piece of wood over their heads. The one artist that stood out was Madi Smith on the back counter, putting some finishing touches on a recent artistic piece.

She’s known for her highly intricate cloth arrangements; she says that she is inspired by the authentic and well-executed vision of contrast between soft and hard patterns. She also finds inspiration from her teacher, Mrs. Lakso. On top of all that, she says her absolute favorite was the one she completed at the very beginning of the year (pictured above), which makes sense because the triangular and floral design is just stunning.

All of her hard work does not go unnoticed. She is happily going to the Savannah College of Art & Design in the fall to become an even better artist. Madi also plans to create a new type of fabric that makes a person feel as though they are underwater.

“I’ve never not taken art,” Madi says. “I was born into this. I’ve always been a very artistic person, and I can’t imagine a life without this. This is what makes me happy, and makes this into the life I want. It’s something that needed to happen in my life. I once took a class at Cullman, and I didn’t like that. I’ve always needed to be in the Bob Jones art program.”