At what age did you start painting?
Although I kept drawing, I rediscovered my joy for painting in my early twenties and have been honing my skills ever since.
Is someone born an artist or do they become an artist?
Both! I believe that everyone has the spark of creativity in them, in the medium that speaks to them.
To create art is a very human thing, which is driven through passion and feeling.
To improve skill through practice and dedicate yourself to the pursuit of higher understanding through creativity, is to be an artist.
What word expresses you as an artist?
Liminal. I feel like I am constantly ducking in and out of worlds, both seen and unseen, to create.
Prior to dedicating my time solely to creating art I was an academic and research scientist, so I have felt for the longest time that I walk many paths, and I use that feeling to inform my art.
Do you feel “inspired” before you create?
I make sure that I take the time in between work to decompress and gain inspiration.
My primary muse is nature, whether it is the wilderness, the sea or the moon.
Before I paint, I like to clear both a physical and mental space so that I can dedicate myself to creating the artwork with the inspiration gifted to me.
With my figurative work, I prefer to allow the face to appear on canvas, so that it feels more authentic to the spirit that I am trying to convey.
How would you describe yourself as an Artist?
I try to stay curious, authentic and enthusiastic.
My balance (which is sometimes very hard to keep) comes from the inspiration I seek, research of my subject, and my nature-based faith tradition.
I consider most of my work to be devotional.
What are your future plans?
I am currently engaged with creating an Oracle Deck, as well as developing my botanical style illustration.
I am also looking to employ my art on to larger devotional canvases.
I shall be working towards a solo exhibition in the near future – and hope to be part of more Seasons of the Witch exhibitions too.
Bio.
Laura has dedicated herself to the pursuit of understanding, though science, art and her faith tradition.
After training as a scientist for many years, she focused her energies solely on painting and illustration in 2017.
Her work to date includes devotional paintings of Deity, abstract treescapes, as well as more fantastical and witchcraft inspired pieces. More recently, she has been honing her skills in botanical illustration, after completing a short course at the Royal Botanical Gardens in Edinburgh.
Her work has been published in academic journals dedicated to Goddess studies, and her paintings have be shown at the collective Seasons of the Witch exhibition in Scotland.
She is constantly inspired by nature and the changing landscapes around her, and this is reflected in her work.
