Dates

• Existence: 1940 - 2023

Biography

Evalyn “Evie” Smith Quarles was born on May 12, 1940, to Birdie and Pete Smith of West Tennessee. The first five years of her life were spent in a one-room grocery store owned by her father. The family lived in four rooms in the back of the store until 1946 when her father sold the store and moved to Halls, Tennessee, so that Evie could attend first grade.

Although the school did not have an art program Evie knew by the fourth grade that she wanted to be an artist, so when she graduated from high school she attended the University of Tennessee in Knoxville and graduated in 1962 with a BS in Education and a major in Art. Knowing that she did not want to become a teacher, she enrolled at the Memphis Academy of Arts in the Fall of 1962.

In the Spring of 1964 a recruiter from Hallmark Cards came to the school to interview anyone who was interested. Knowing she was on the road to becoming a professional student, Evie decided to sign up. Two months later she was in Kansas City, Missouri, designing greeting cards for Hallmark. Her parents breathed a sigh of relief, knowing she would not be a starving artist. Her life as an artist was much better than she ever expected.

In 1965 Evie married her husband Bob and their son Josh was born in 1972. She then left Hallmark to freelance at home and be with her son. For the next 28 years she designed greeting cards and other projects that often connected her with Hallmark. She often enjoyed photography and used her camera for some of her freelance projects. At 57 years old she decided to finish the projects she was working on and enrolled in a photography class at Penn Valley Community College in the Fall of 1997.

After a couple of weeks learning the basics of developing and printing, Evie got caught up in the magic of the darkroom and would spend every free moment working there. She finally understood the meaning of black, white and gray, or in a word contrast. She couldn’t wait to get to the lab to print the shots she had taken the day before, she was hooked.

While working on a project for her final exam, she discovered the Grand Emporium, a popular local juke joint. That is where Evie began her career as a blues photographer, working with local musicians; various blues publications and blues and jazz venues in Kansas City, Missouri, as well as various Kansas locations. She is a lifetime recipient of a Kansas City Blues Society membership as well as official photographer of that organization.

Evie passed away on December 10, 2023.

Excerpts taken from the Evie Quarles manuscript: Journey to the Blues

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