About
At Play With Paper
The story of this art is about freedom, fun, and play. As an artist who has spent years developing representational skills and the fine details of rendering portraits, precision has played an integral part of my creative process. Recently however, I decided to honor another aspect that is vital to creativity: a place to play. My trips to the art store now include a harvest of anything that looks fun, curious, and playful!
The exciting thing about changing mediums is that once again, you see the world with fresh eyes. It is a place for new beginnings and to test the possibilities of what creativity means. It is a chance to carry your well earned experience into a brand new day.
These works are a result of that. They are joyful expressions that percolate from the play of creativity. They are about flow, immediacy and tuning into the strength of emotional ingenuity. They are a dance of freedom, created with an eye for rhythm, harmony and scale. They're energetic and bright and often take on their personality from the many enriching cultures of our world.
The images represented are selected from larger pieces of art on paper that are originally 30in x 12ft. In life they have a robust range of texture and tactile quality. They develop through a series of stages. Initially there is a wet into wet application and than subsequent layers are applied. They are created with various water based paints, metallics, stamps, sprays or whatever feels right in the moment.
Bio
Born in Boston, Laura grew up in Hamilton, MA. After completing her Bachelor's of Fine Arts degree at the University of New Hampshire, she gained experience painting in Paris before studying for four years(1998-2002) at The Paul Ingbretson Studio of Painting and Drawing(Boston School tradition). She then continued her studies for a year in Florence, Italy at the Charles Cecil Studios, focusing specifically on portraiture. In the ensuing years Laura has painted in Boston's historic Fenway Studios, Chadd's Ford, PA, Charlottesville, VA, Boston's North Shore and currently in Millbrook, NY.
As the 2004 winner of the Portrait Society of America's Draper Grand Prize and the People's Choice Award, Laura has been recognized on both the national and international level. Laura has also been featured in such magazines as International Artist and American Artist and is a member of The Portrait Society of America as well as The Newburyport Art Association. Her paintings are amongst many fine art collections both domestically and internationally including The New Britain Museum of American Art, in New Britain, CT.
You may see some of Laura's representational work at www.Lclarkheard.com