Raised in Alabama, I have always loved to create things with my hands, be out in nature, and make a good sale. When I was just a kid, a neighbor called my mom and asked her, “Do you know Laurie Anne is outside selling rocks to my kids?!” Who knew that a couple of decades later, I’d have my very own art business (and an excellent rock collection)?
My creativity was always inspired by being outside, playing in the woods and imagining all the places in the world I would one day visit. I continue to be drawn to the textures and hues found in nature, from the prickly cactuses I’ve grown to love here in Arizona, to the lush, rolling hillsides in France.
I studied art at Auburn University and spent a semester abroad in Italy at Florence University of the Arts, where I fell in love with the vibrant culture. I’ve had the traveling bug ever since.
It wasn’t until 2016 that I decided to take the plunge and become a full-time artist, which was a leap of faith — but I’ve always loved a good challenge! I get invigorated by trying new things and find that listening to my gut has never steered me in the wrong direction.
I began selling my artwork, as well as teaching students online how to paint, and created my very own process for how to make art prints from my acrylic paintings. It was a labor of love to figure out the process and it was scary investing in the equipment without knowing if it was going to pay off.
I began printing my art prints in our guest room, making do with a small space, and painting my landscapes in my kitchen studio. As my prints started to fly off the shelves, my husband, Taylor, was able to quit his job and work with me full time; and then we moved the printing setup into the garage, and eventually into its own studio in town. But I’ve continued painting at home — in our current house I have my own studio in the heart of our house and I love it. I have a huge gallery wall where I can hang up my latest prints, and large windows to let in the afternoon light (and so I can bird-watch).
Taylor and I built the gallery wall so that I could always have my prints on display. Whenever I want to swap out prints, I create a mock-up in Photoshop so that I can lay out the prints in different sizes and formats before printing and framing them. It’s one of my favorite things to do after I’ve painted a bunch of new paintings — I look forward to it every time! It always feels like a brand-new space when I update the wall. Creating a studio that is cozy, inspiring, and feels like me has always been something I’ve desired, and it feels so good to have finally made a space that is exactly what I want.
Aside from traveling, I’m really a homebody and that’s where I create my art. My studio is filled with the things that inspire me, like my rock and shell collection. I collect treasures from everywhere I go and have a “treasure cabinet” in my studio that is filled with colors and memories. I also have bowls of rocks and shells all around my home that bring me so much joy to see every day. I’ve recently begun pressing flowers that I find, either from my backyard or on our travels, and I have been creating a large book of my pressed flowers that lives in my studio. I make sure to label them so I know where I picked them up. I now have flowers from England and all over the U.S., and it feels so magical to have these little tokens from different places near me when I paint.
While I know many artists prefer quiet to work in, I prefer background noise, especially for long painting days. We installed a TV in my studio so I can play Love Island (guilty pleasure, haha!) or watch reruns of The Office (my favorite show of all time — well, that and Lost).
The most important addition to my studio is our dog, Oscar. Oscar is a wire fox terrier and we adopted him after our first dog, Hazel (also a wire fox terrier), passed away unexpectedly last year. Hazel loved to travel with us in our camper van and was there for almost all of the adventures I have painted. It was heartbreaking to lose her, but it’s been so sweet to have Oscar’s crazy and fun puppy energy around, and really special to look over and see him sleeping in her bed while I paint.
When we both need some fresh air, our backyard has become another favorite spot. It’s big enough that Oscar can run around and get out all his puppy energy and I can wander around checking on all our plants. We have beautiful bougainvillea that line our block fence and bring the brightest pop of color. On the scorching days, we sit under a mist fan on our patio, which keeps us just cool enough in the shade. Recently, we got an electric bike and have been practicing driving it around in the yard until we get enough courage to take it on the streets! Even Oscar, tucked into a backpack that I wear while we zip around, loves it. The outdoors is my favorite play place when I need a paint break.
While I love to travel all over the States, and abroad, sometimes the best trip is spontaneously hopping in our camper van and camping out in the desert for a night or two. My artistic process is to take photos of landscapes that stand out to me so that I can really soak in the view, and then take them back into the studio to paint from. Sunrise in the desert is one of my favorite times to sit still and just take in my surroundings. Whenever someone says that the desert is boring, or all one color, I know they haven’t really been out in it because it’s filled with shapes and colors and so much beauty!
I know that no matter where I visit in the world, I’ll always find something that stops me in my tracks and makes me want to paint. One of my biggest fears is to have life pass me by without really living and experiencing all that I can. Even though I love to be at home with my family and my treasures, one of the greatest gifts of being a full-time artist is the ability to explore the world and capture little bits of it on my canvas.
Raised in Alabama, I have always loved to create things with my hands, be out in nature, and make a good sale. When I was just a kid, a neighbor called my mom and asked her, “Do you know Laurie Anne is outside selling rocks to my kids?!” Who knew that a couple of decades later, I’d have my very own art business (and an excellent rock collection)?
My creativity was always inspired by being outside, playing in the woods and imagining all the places in the world I would one day visit. I continue to be drawn to the textures and hues found in nature, from the prickly cactuses I’ve grown to love here in Arizona, to the lush, rolling hillsides in France.
I studied art at Auburn University and spent a semester abroad in Italy at Florence University of the Arts, where I fell in love with the vibrant culture. I’ve had the traveling bug ever since.
It wasn’t until 2016 that I decided to take the plunge and become a full-time artist, which was a leap of faith — but I’ve always loved a good challenge! I get invigorated by trying new things and find that listening to my gut has never steered me in the wrong direction.
I began selling my artwork, as well as teaching students online how to paint, and created my very own process for how to make art prints from my acrylic paintings. It was a labor of love to figure out the process and it was scary investing in the equipment without knowing if it was going to pay off.
I began printing my art prints in our guest room, making do with a small space, and painting my landscapes in my kitchen studio. As my prints started to fly off the shelves, my husband, Taylor, was able to quit his job and work with me full time; and then we moved the printing setup into the garage, and eventually into its own studio in town. But I’ve continued painting at home — in our current house I have my own studio in the heart of our house and I love it. I have a huge gallery wall where I can hang up my latest prints, and large windows to let in the afternoon light (and so I can bird-watch).
Taylor and I built the gallery wall so that I could always have my prints on display. Whenever I want to swap out prints, I create a mock-up in Photoshop so that I can lay out the prints in different sizes and formats before printing and framing them. It’s one of my favorite things to do after I’ve painted a bunch of new paintings — I look forward to it every time! It always feels like a brand-new space when I update the wall. Creating a studio that is cozy, inspiring, and feels like me has always been something I’ve desired, and it feels so good to have finally made a space that is exactly what I want.
Aside from traveling, I’m really a homebody and that’s where I create my art. My studio is filled with the things that inspire me, like my rock and shell collection. I collect treasures from everywhere I go and have a “treasure cabinet” in my studio that is filled with colors and memories. I also have bowls of rocks and shells all around my home that bring me so much joy to see every day. I’ve recently begun pressing flowers that I find, either from my backyard or on our travels, and I have been creating a large book of my pressed flowers that lives in my studio. I make sure to label them so I know where I picked them up. I now have flowers from England and all over the U.S., and it feels so magical to have these little tokens from different places near me when I paint.
While I know many artists prefer quiet to work in, I prefer background noise, especially for long painting days. We installed a TV in my studio so I can play Love Island (guilty pleasure, haha!) or watch reruns of The Office (my favorite show of all time — well, that and Lost).
The most important addition to my studio is our dog, Oscar. Oscar is a wire fox terrier and we adopted him after our first dog, Hazel (also a wire fox terrier), passed away unexpectedly last year. Hazel loved to travel with us in our camper van and was there for almost all of the adventures I have painted. It was heartbreaking to lose her, but it’s been so sweet to have Oscar’s crazy and fun puppy energy around, and really special to look over and see him sleeping in her bed while I paint.
When we both need some fresh air, our backyard has become another favorite spot. It’s big enough that Oscar can run around and get out all his puppy energy and I can wander around checking on all our plants. We have beautiful bougainvillea that line our block fence and bring the brightest pop of color. On the scorching days, we sit under a mist fan on our patio, which keeps us just cool enough in the shade. Recently, we got an electric bike and have been practicing driving it around in the yard until we get enough courage to take it on the streets! Even Oscar, tucked into a backpack that I wear while we zip around, loves it. The outdoors is my favorite play place when I need a paint break.
While I love to travel all over the States, and abroad, sometimes the best trip is spontaneously hopping in our camper van and camping out in the desert for a night or two. My artistic process is to take photos of landscapes that stand out to me so that I can really soak in the view, and then take them back into the studio to paint from. Sunrise in the desert is one of my favorite times to sit still and just take in my surroundings. Whenever someone says that the desert is boring, or all one color, I know they haven’t really been out in it because it’s filled with shapes and colors and so much beauty!
I know that no matter where I visit in the world, I’ll always find something that stops me in my tracks and makes me want to paint. One of my biggest fears is to have life pass me by without really living and experiencing all that I can. Even though I love to be at home with my family and my treasures, one of the greatest gifts of being a full-time artist is the ability to explore the world and capture little bits of it on my canvas.
