Hi! I’m Laura, a Florida-based artist, designer, and illustrator who loves nature. I live in North Central Florida with my two dogs, and enjoy the quiet, calming serenity of hearing the birds in my yard along with any gentle breezes flowing through all of the pine trees. I also take pleasure in getting out to enjoy the natural springs nearby or travel to new locations for exploration and inspiration whenever I get the opportunity.
My creative journey has included countless mediums over the years. Still, my heart belongs to the flowing magic of watercolors, the versatility of colored pencils, and the endless possibilities of mixed media.
When I was asked as a child what I wanted to do for a living as I got older, my instinctual response was that I wanted to be an artist. In my head, this included selling paintings for people to have on the walls in their living rooms. Did I have clue how to go about any of this? No. But my 3-year-old brain knew it had to be possible. Nobody had yet to tell me otherwise at the point. And that has never stopped being something my soul has needed to find a way to make happen no matter what the critics say.
My process varies depending on the project but almost always starts with an initial thumbnail sketch of an idea, before a full-scale sketch, that I then upload to create digital linework as necessary. From there, I experiment with different color options for the piece before committing to colorizing a sketch with any medium. Sometimes, I skip the step of digitizing my linework until the end of the process because I like to experiment and explore what happens while in the middle of creating a piece, particularly when I am using a new medium or trying out a new technique.
That messy middle is usually where the best magic happens. I love simplifying what I see into basic shapes, such as circles, ovals, squares, rectangles, diamonds, etc. From there I play around with the shapes, adding different curves or corners and then mixing and matching the shapes along with utilizing my knowledge of color theory to add depth and dimension to a piece. My sketchbook is often full of mishaps and beautiful “happy accidents,” that took place when I let loose and decided to just see what would happen if I did this or that. With every “failure”, I’ve learned to experiment and play around with new possibilities so much and am always finding new ones to explore in the future as I continue to grow and develop my skills in multiple areas such as illustration, design thinking, writing, and creativity.
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