Early Prints

The earliest of these prints were made shortly after Schmidt finished graduate school and had moved to Pittsburg, Pennsylvania. Living in the area known as Squirrel Hill, with distinctive architecture built at the height of industrial affluence, she was working in a studio set up in an elementary school. The Northumberland and Colfax series are reflective of her desire to capture a sense of place in her drawings and prints. Schmidt sites the work of artist Edward Hopper as an influence at the time, as he constructed a strong atmosphere of place in his paintings.