Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Laura Roth. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Laura, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Did you always know you wanted to pursue a creative or artistic career? When did you first know?

When it comes to the life of a creative person, I feel like they know at a really early age where their path is going to take them! I remember being about 4 years old and creating a special drawing for my Grandma to give her as a gift that summer. At home, we always had all different types of art and craft supplies and were encouraged to create. I remember my mom and I making things together at the dining room table. I was always drawing and coloring in the evenings and on the weekends. Throughout schooling, I did take all the art classes I was able to take and did excel with the artwork I created. In high school I was definitely sure being a visual artist was something I wanted to do with my life and it clicked then that one way I wanted to pursue this was to become an Art Educator, knowing I would always be an artist.

Laura, 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?

As most artists, I knew at a young age I wanted to be an artist. My education and experiences in life allowed me to guide my vision of where in the art world I wanted to go, which was to be an art educator and graphic designer. With this, I could teach others to find a new appreciation for the arts, as well as still be an artist in my own right. Currently I am focusing more on my own art creations. A few years ago, I painted several acrylic paintings with the subject being the human heart. Looking back, I am unsure of why I chose that subject matter, but throughout college I would use the human body as a subject focus. I have several charcoal drawings with a variety of human hands as the subject and the human eye being the focus of my printmaking projects. I find it something that anyone can relate to in some aspect and lends itself to become quite adaptable in a realistic or abstract approach. I am an artist that enjoys a variety of mediums on their own as well as mixed. My larger artworks are acrylic paintings with an emphasis on texture. I will paint the canvas with several layers of acrylic paint then use a ribbed tool or hand cut ribbed tool to drag across the surface to create curved or straight lines. As this dries, the surface is textured and allows me to use the dry brush technique to add a small amount of color on the relieved texture to make it more visible before painting the subject matter. My focus on creating a series of heart artwork allows me to explore all possible ideas that I have, including using other media for it. My next idea is using fabric to cut our heart shapes and apply that to a painted canvas. I do use a gelli plate and an anatomical heart stamp to create unique printed mini heart art I include with any artwork purchased as a bonus artwork and a thank you. Other artwork I focus on would be my colored pencil drawings. I personally like using Prismacolor brand colored pencils because of their versatility and ability of the colors to blend well with one another in a similar manner to paint. My colored pencil drawings, I start with creating an acrylic paint printed background to have a colored background to start.
One aspect I am most proud of is being able to educate others about art to help them find their own personal appreciation for visual arts, as well as the ability to be an artist myself so my students have a positive example of finding a passion in life. With creating art, it is also amazing to find connections with others to perceive my artwork in a different manner based on their own life experiences. Creating art is an extension of the artist and when a viewer finds themselves drawn to your artwork, it bridges a new human connection.

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

When creating art, the artist has the vision all in their mind and does whatever they can to get it out of their mind to create a tangible work. This process makes the work extremely personable with a connection to the artist. The work becomes and extension of the artist. The more rewarding aspect is when you take the chance and show your artwork to others and they find an intense connection to it as well. When I starting my heart series, I mainly created just for myself, hanging the paintings on my own walls. Only family and friends who came over ever saw the paintings. Once I had an art exhibition at a local library, there were so many people that I knew and didn’t know, who expressed a genuine interest in my heart paintings. That gave me the extrinsic drive to keep creating new variations of my heart series and offer to sell them. As a cancer survivor, I have follow up appointments with my oncologist, cardiologist, heart technicians and medical technicians for yearly blood tests. I created mini heart heart prints, using my gelli plate and a biological heart stamp to all of my medical staff and shared photos of my heart paintings. All of them immediately loved the work! I even created stickers with my blue heart painting with the words “Cardiologist Approved.” Being an art educator, creating art and display it in the community is a great way to be an example to my students that I’m a practicing artist alongside teaching them.

Is there mission driving your creative journey?

A goal I have specifically with my heart series, is to keep exploring all the variety of ideas I have in various media. I have sketchbooks with mini sketch ideas and quick sample ideas of heart artwork all around. Sometimes they become gifts for friends and family. Some of the ideas creating a launchpad for ideas to other series I could begin. With heart disease being a leading health issue, one idea I would like to explore is how I can use my art to give back to others, especially those who have had cancer and heart issues. Creating art is enjoyable and satisfying, but being able to use it to make a difference in the world to help others, makes it ever more rewarding.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.etsy.com/shop/ArtworkByRoth
• Instagram: ArtworkByRoth
• Facebook: ArtworkByRoth
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/laurarroth/

Image Credits
Michelle Marsden, for profile photo Laura Roth, for all art photos