A little bit about me
I think I've always been an artist and come from a long line of creative women. I was lucky enough to attend a high school that had a vocational program for the arts and graduated with a BFA in Oil Painting from BGSU in 1997. I've taken a few breaks from creating fine art along the way but have always worked in the creative field. I'm now a mom to a beautiful girl, have a home studio and one in a Historic House in uptown Worthington. The best part of this time in my life is that I can fully dedicate myself to painting.
Much of my inspiration comes from the beauty I find in nature. I’m intrigued by art that displays a process beneath the finished product. To me the process of making art is just as important as the outcome. I use materials that speak to me on a visceral level then discover interesting ways to incorporate them into my art; I find little gems like dried leaves and flowers while on a walk, my grandmother’s old buttons and sewing threads, or pages of a vintage book from an Antique store. Anything that catches my eye is potential art and will most likely find its way into a piece at one time or another.
I stumbled upon a beeswax college workshop about twelve years ago and absolutely fell in love with working with melted wax. Since then I have been teaching myself the ancient art of Encaustic painting. Painting with liquid wax is both satisfying and challenging. The wax needs to be heated to around 120 degrees to be able to paint with it, it hardens quickly once it touches the wood canvas, and has to be fused in layers with a heat gun or a blow torch.
Combining encaustics and my love of mixed media is a natural choice for me because it is so experimental with limitless possibilities in the materials I can use. My goal in creating art is to find a link between ordinary life and the bits of magic that can be found in it. The result is often ethereal and atmospheric pieces with a nod to vintage illustration and assemblage art.
Her solo show, Found in Nature, at Halley Gallery in April of 2019 was reviewed in the Columbus Dispatch and her work has been featured on the HGTV show Welcome Back Potter in 2016.
Laura's art is available at her studio, Brushwork Art Studio, in downtown Sunbury, OH on the square.