I usually do not have a plan laid out before I start a painting. I may have a general idea of what I would like to be on the canvas and then let it flow. I feel caged if I attempt to paint a portrait or picture. Color is one of my motivators, I must have colors around and I feel as if enhances my environment and keeps me extremely optimistic & bright. You will rarely find a dismal painting in my collections. My paintings push me through life, and sometimes after a painting has been completed I look at it & realized how much I have grown or maybe what message I actually was missing at the time I painted a piece. My philosophy behind this is not in only the act of painting are there healing properties for mind, spirit & soul, but the gratification I feel when a piece is completed. My inspirations are the hopes that a piece of work will have the same effect on my buyers. That they will be inspired, or feel better on a bad day just because it is there. I have noticed in doing the shows I have done in 2007 how many children are drawn to my work. I love to see the look on their faces when they see my work. Another artist I met once told me that "it is good that children love your work for they are pure of heart, they must recognize the purity or your work." Since I really did not get started with the big jump into art until I was 34, I feel sometimes that I am catching up for all the years I missed out on being an artist. I am living, breathing and eating art these days and I would not want it any other way. After corporate world, college, military and business endeavors it is actually the passion for art that drives me further than anything I could have imagined. You may have noticed the name Art de Laura on my gallery. I came up with that name once I started back up in 1995. I hope you enjoy my work and hope to hear from you. If you are a fellow artist I wish you the best. www.artdelaura.com www.minthillarts.org in gallery

Self-educated artist. I have been an artist my whole life but was never encouraged to pursue art either in education or career. I have always volunteered my art in college and places I was employed. I actually quit any sort of artistic creation for 5 years. I decided to start again in 1995 (after I got out of the Navy (haze grey environment). I started drawing & charcoal mediums at that time and only part-time. Selling pieces here there, basically in order to survive. It was not until 2004 that I started to get serious with large bright paintings and I made the decision I would wait until I had a large amount of paintings before I emerged, which would be the last 6 months of 2007. I have tried many different venues this past year, have met hundreds of artist and am VP of an art association established in Aug of 2007. Hundreds of people have seen my work and now recognize my style. I have been influenced by artists like myself who were self-educated and have touched many generations after they have passed. My passion for art has motivated & pushed me, far more than anything else.

Feb. Featured Artist at Occhuzzie Paint Company
2/1/2008
Charlotte, NC
United States

Mint Hill Arts
4/11/2008
Mint Hill , NC
United States

Plaza Central Crawl
4/22/2008
Charlotte, NC
United States