About Laura

If you had asked me 30 years ago what I wanted to be when I grew up, I would have answered, “An artist and Indiana Jones.” In one of my earliest memories, I am curled up on a window ledge at the library thumbing through an art encyclopedia. I couldn’t read yet, but I was fascinated by the pictures and knew that’s what I wanted to do with my life. (When I wasn’t unearthing ancient relics, running from Nazis, or dodging booby traps of course!)

My mother, an artist herself, was my first teacher. She encouraged me to get messy, to experiment, to create with whatever I could get my hands on. I tagged along with her to classes and workshops, and she always made sure I had my own materials so I could play, too. Art has never stopped feeling like play to me. There’s a kind of magic in the act of creation, and satisfaction in conjuring something into existence that no one else has ever created.

I continued my art education at UW-Milwaukee, graduating with a BA. I have taken many workshops throughout the years, and still delight in the challenge of being pushed out of my comfort zone. While I’ve worked in a number of mediums, I painted predominantly in acrylic for many years until I recently challenged myself to work in watercolor and fell in love.

I now live in Thiensville, WI with my husband, daughter, two dogs, two fish, and the occasional toad. When I’m not painting, I’m either chasing my daughter, reading, or working in my ever-expanding garden.  

While my Indiana Jones career didn’t quite pan out, I have been fortunate enough to live and travel abroad, first in Singapore and Southeast Asia, and then in British Columbia. Both experiences exposed me to landscapes, lifestyles, people, and experiences that profoundly influenced the way I see the world around me. From sun-soaked lagoons in Thailand to the temperate rainforests of British Columbia, I have seen things so beautiful that words could never do them justice, and I am eternally grateful for these experiences and the many ways they’ve shaped my life.

Art is the vehicle through which I manifest my wonder and gratitude for these experiences and for the natural world around me. My deepest hope is that viewers will derive as much joy from my work as I did in the act of creating it.