We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Laura Burkhart. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Laura below.
Laura, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. When did you first know you wanted to pursue a creative/artistic path professionally?
For as long as I can remember, from the moment I could pick up a crayon, I have been making art. And as soon as I understood being an Artist could also be a profession, it was my dream to pursue it. As I got older and was told over and over again how hard it was to do this, and how few people actually make art a career, I did waiver, but it never stopped being the dream. I tried to talk myself into many other career paths along the way, tried on majors in college that would award me “more marketable skills”, but ultimately I found myself in the Art Building, and dedicated myself to a life of creation, committed to make it my livelihood somehow, some way. I even went on after my Fine Arts Degree to earn a second degree in Interior Design, but I always came back to art. From then on, every single job I’ve had has been creative. I worked for years as an Artist for large retailers, traveling all over the country doing Art Installations, windows and store design, but was always pursuing my own creative work on the side. After years of working double time, I finally transitioned into self employment and Full time freelance Professional Artist in 2018 and have never looked back.
The time since has been the most challenging work I’ve ever done, but also the most rewarding. I am so grateful to get to create art every day and to connect with clients over our shared love of nature, and all the pain and beauty that inspires my work.
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?
After years of working as an artist for large retailers, and dabbling in every artistic medium imaginable, I found myself spending my own creative time in painting and woodworking. These days my focus is on these two totally opposing mediums, with the same inspiration; the beauty of nature and evoking the feelings of peace and joy nature gives me. Both my landscape paintings and my sculptural woodwork are meant to bring the outdoors in, to connect us to nature, and the remind us of the incredible earth that we live on that connects us all.
I paint landscapes that celebrate the Mountains, lakes and trees that surround us here in the Pacific Northwest in everything from watercolors on paper, acrylic on canvas and wood, to large scale murals on walls. The work is in the perpetual pursuit of capturing the magic of Mountains and everything they represent. My Woodwork is in my own unique style that I developed years ago while playing around with the tools and lumber I had on hand, seeking to bring something new to the industry and play with depth and negative space. It’s a layered sculptural approach to Woodwork that I am constantly evolving as new ideas come. I love working with the juxtaposition of geometric shapes and the wild fluidity of the wood grain and the hand cut imperfection. I seek out unique pieces of lumber that have interested knots and grain and integrate them into the design itself, allowing each piece to carry a bit of the story of the forest inside of it.
I paint and build in collections of original work, each piece completely unique. While I’ll repeat similar designs or compositions, no two are ever the same. I also do a lot of custom work in both mediums, working with clients to create a unique work of art in their exact specified dimensions and color palette for their specific space.
What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?
For me, seeing the art connect with someone is by far the most rewarding aspect. I see art as a transfer of energy from the artist to the viewer. There are so many emotions that go into creating a work and for me I am always trying to capture the best parts of my experience, the most hopeful joyous moments, and evoking them in paint or wood. When someone sees that work and feels something good, peace or joy or encouragement, I am so happy. My only goal with this work is that it can serve as a reminder to someone of life’s beauty, even in the midst of pain and tragedy. If my art can add just a little more light to the world in the midst of so much darkness, then I have done my job.
Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?
A life of creative entrepreneurship is a life full of rejection and heartache. It is a very vulnerable position to be in day after day pouring your heart and soul out and putting it on display, and there are always going to be people who don’t like it. But staying open is the only way to keep making the art, and focusing on the people who are connecting with the work is the key to pressing on. I’ve had several moments of gut wrenching rejection along the way, but one I am most proud of coming back from is when I had plans to show at a furniture showroom a few years ago. I spent hours bringing all my new work down, hanging it all up, only to be asked to take it all back down because the owner decided he didn’t like it. It was heart breaking. I cried my eyes out when I left and felt so defeated I thought I would never paint again. It absolutely crushed me and at a time when I had just gone out on my own it made me question everything. Somehow I pushed through it and kept going, and that year I went on to sell more original work than ever before in my life, and sold out every show of paintings for the rest of that year. I remind myself of that whenever I’m feeling especially defeated. Sometimes the best work comes out of times of desperation and darkness and there is just so much power in believing in your own voice and light when someone tries to snuff it out.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.lauraburkhartcreative.com
- Instagram: @lauraburkhart
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lauraburkhartcreative
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/laura-burkhart-creative/
Image Credits
Devin Larson of Backcountry Bohemians Naomi Abbot Andrea Michelle Photography