Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Laurie Maves Guglielmi . We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Laurie Maves, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. What’s the kindest thing anyone has ever done for you?
Hi there, thanks so much. The kindest thing anyone has ever done for me has to do with providing a studio space. After relocating to Sarasota, Florida, from Denver, Colorado in 2017, I opened an arts and art therapy studio in the spring of 2019. It was a very successful studio. I hosted and taught many new students about the therapeutic aspects of abstract painting. I didn’t only teach there, but I also used the studio space to create my own large scale abstract paintings, which I sold and created for museum and gallery showings.
But then Covid came, and no one was going out in public, let alone to a painting studio, therefore I was forced to close my studio. That meant no more students, and no more space to paint my large paintings. At the end of 2020 in December, one of my past students, Kurt Lucas, who happened to own a very successful interior design firm in Sarasota, invited me to come set up my easel and do some painting in one of his design warehouses. He thought it would be a good idea for me to be painting in an environment with a number of interior designers and other creative people. I was thoroughly overwhelmed by his generous offer. I needed a place to paint and to host a student or two, and ride out the rest of the Covid – crushing small business nightmare. I took Kurt up on his very kind offer to provide space for me to work, what at first was an area with one easel. Today, almost 2 years later, Kurt still grants me space in his warehouse which includes about 400 sq feet and a 12’x12’ wall upon which I can make enormous paintings. But not only has Kurt provided a place for me to work, he and his designers commission and sell my work to their individual and corporate clients. It was a huge blessing and I will forever be in his debt for his kindness and generosity.
Laurie Maves, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?
Sure thing! As a small child, I always loved making paintings and being creative. When I went to college I wanted to study art and I did, but when you graduate college with a bachelors in art, you don’t really have many job prospects which is just the reality of many humanity degrees. 30 years ago, no one really taught you about the business of being an artist and how to use your craft to not only make things, but to also market them and have a successful business. I eventually went to get my Masters Degree in Art Therapy, as a way to use my love of art with helping people. For many years I worked as an art therapist in many different settings from schools to hospitals and from cancer centers to geriatrics. But throughout my entire 20+ year career, I really just wanted to make my own paintings- that was always something I loved to do. Now with the generosity of Kurt Lucas allowing me to work very large in his interior design studio it’s almost as if my dreams have come true. I have a place to go, I have a studio, I’m surrounded by creative people, I make enormous paintings, and those very creative designers sell my work. It’s as if coming full circle, and I enjoy the happiness of it all.
Do you think there is something that non-creatives might struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can shed some light?
Many times when I meet people who are not creative they ask me about being an artist. They will make comments such as “well I don’t have any talent” or “I can’t draw stick figure – I could never do what you do.” When people say these things, I don’t think they understand the reality of the amount of hard and dedicated work it takes to succeed as an Artist. Successful artists spend their entire lives putting tens of thousands of hours into their craft. I believe there was an author Michael Gladwell who wrote a book called “The Tipping Point” which delves into the “10,000 hours” concept and how it takes this much time to become a master at one’s craft. I have probably put who knows 30,000 hours or more into what I do and painting now becomes comes very naturally for me. It’s not that I don’t struggle at times, but because I have made hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of paintings over 5 decades now, I should most definitely know what I’m doing in regards to painting.
So when people say it has to be “talent” – I’m sure there’s an element of talent in being an artist, but at the same time there is an undying dedication to Learning about paint and it’s application, learning about composition and the quality of colors and pallets and color mixing and textures – the list goes on and on. I really believe it’s about hard work and dedication and resilience and just really you know when in your gut you don’t want to do anything else. You just want to paint and you really want to perfect what you do. I really don’t think most people have a clear understanding of how much work has gone into a lifetime to be able to just create one painting. Often clients will ask me, “how long did that take you to make that painting?” I used to answer them literally: 20, 10, 2 hours maybe? But now my answer is: 50+years! It took me 50 years to make a painting, because art is like that. It’s a collection of a lifetime of learning about paint and strokes and line quality and judgment and self-expression and all of that wrapped into one result over time.
Are there any resources you wish you knew about earlier in your creative journey?
I don’t know if it’s a specific resource but I certainly would’ve started working with interior designers much earlier in my career. I think in the beginning when I was in my 20s I was just focused on making paintings and getting them into art shows and galleries and I thought that was something that was important as far as being a “professional artist” but later in life I realized that I seem to be more successful and able to challenge my skill sets more when I’m working with other professionals in the field such as interior designers, interior decorators and architects. For me, that’s been a great resource and a great environment to work in, and I really wish I had pursued that earlier. That is one thing I would recommend for young artists.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://lauriemavesart.com
- Other: Vimeo @lauriemavesart Rumble @lauriemavesart