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Laura lives in Bristol and is a member of the Society of Woman Artists, an Artist Network Member of the Royal West of England Academy and a founder member of the BS9 Arts Trail. She grew up on the west coast of the US and gained a Bachelor of Arts degree in Art and Art Education at Fairhaven College and Western Washington State University in the USA. She later completed a postgraduate multimedia extension course at Bristol Polytechnic. Laura works in a variety of different media including oils, oil and cold wax medium, printmaking and collage. She is particularly interested in surface, whether decorative, marked by weather and natural processes or created by the application of different materials and techniques, and takes inspiration mainly from landscape and organic forms.
Her paintings are mostly semi-abstract landscapes in which she aims to capture a spirit of place, often focusing in closely and calling on drawings, colour studies, photographs and remembered images in preparation for the final work. In her latest works she has focused on recently visited landscapes in New Mexico, County Mayo; Ireland and the Dorset coast. These places have moved her and she has tried to capture something of the wildness and the stillness she experienced when visiting them for the first time, distilling this through fragments of colour and texture. When working on a painting Laura uses layers of oil and cold wax medium to build up and then attempt to uncover the subtleties, nuances, light and texture of the place. She says of her technique:
“Working in this way allows me to tap into connections with a particular place at a deep level, to uncover, unearth and go beneath the surface to explore subliminal associations with the landscape. The gradual build-up of layers which are later scratched away allows for instinctual marks and a digging that goes on as I try to connect, to make sense of the landscape.”
Laura has work in private collections in the UK, Europe, Australia and the USA. Her work has been exhibited widely in Bristol and Bath and numerously at the Royal West of England Academy, Bristol and Annual Exhibitions with the Bath Society of Artists.
Laura taught art at secondary level for many years and now teaches and holds workshops for artists. Her publications - Kick stART 3 - Supporting art education at Key Stage 3 - a sourcebook for teachers - jointly produced with three other art educators in 2010.
Laura is a member of the Society of Women Artists.
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