March Meet the Maker (Part 1)

Each March there’s a challenge hosted by @joannehawker over on Instagram called March Meet the Maker. The idea is that it’s a great way to share about yourself and your business along with creators from across the globe. There’s a prompt topic each day that acts as inspiration for a daily social media post. This year I’m going to be participating a little differently by combining the week’s prompts into a blog post.

Here’s this year’s official list of prompts if you’d like to join in!

Brand Introduction

Hi! I’m Laura, the artist and owner behind Laura Jaen Art. I live and work out of Elmira, New York which is near the Finger Lakes area of New York State. I create realistic paintings and drawings inspired by the beauty I see around me.

After a decade living out west, I returned back to New York State and started seeing the same old places with new eyes. The places I find most interesting tend to be hidden, underappreciated, or overlooked. My paintings are meant to elicit a sense of calm escape from the busyness of daily life. They encourage the viewer to pause to take a breath and notice the beauty right in front of us.

Style

I work primarily in acrylic and ink. My artwork starts from viewing an inspirational scene and taking a photograph on location. Later I return to my home studio where I create the piece.

My painting style includes painting in thin layers – blocking in main colors first and then adding multiple layers of finer details until completion. I like to work in a limited palette, custom mixing the colors I use from a selection of five or six different paint colors.

Beliefs & Values

Some of my beliefs and values include:
Kindness and fairness towards all people, animals, and our environment.
Minimizing my impact on the environment through the way I live and work.
Constantly being in a state of learning and growth, and helping others around me to do the same.
Always seeking to find the beauty that’s present around me.

On My Desk

Here’s a glimpse at my desk! There are always all sorts of different projects in process in this work space. I have a table top easel that I use for smaller pieces of art. To the left I have shelves that store prepped surfaces ready to paint. I have a bulletin board that holds miscellaneous color studies and brainstorms. My rarely used colors and spare tubes of paint are hanging on the bottom. The colors I use the most are in a small container near my most-often used brushes. There are various pens, markers, mediums, and finishes about.

Newest Make

This is the most recent painting that I’ve finished. “Sunny Afternoon” is a 9×6 acrylic painting on watercolor paper. The scene shows a beautiful summer afternoon along the Owego Riverwalk. It’s part of my current 100 Day Project where I challenged myself to create 100 small paintings.

This painting, as well as the other artwork featured in this post, is available to view and purchase at my current guest artist showcase at Gallery 41 in Owego, NY during the month of March – The Beauty Right in Front of Us. The exhibit includes 40 of my acrylic paintings and ink drawings of the Finger Lakes area of New York. If you’re in the area, I love for you to take a look! (Gallery 41’s website for details on hours, directions, etc.).