Living a Creative Life Constantly Inspired by Nature
When it comes to my more fantasy inspired work, I find joy in creating a tiny slice of a magical world.
I love creating a small world on paper or from clay, and imaging the beings that might inhabit it.
In regard to my nature-centric pieces, it makes me happy to feel like I have captured a piece of the forest.
To see a mossy log with a mushroom growing on it, in my house. That otherwise one would have to hike into the bush to find.
Tasmanian Fungi and Nature
The huge variety of fungi in Tasmania inspires me every time I go for a bushwalk. Sometimes walks take me twice as long because I spend so much time stopping to look at mushrooms.
They feature heavily in my work, and I always take photos to reference later.
Exploring Filming Nature
I am exploring film photography on my walks; I have found that film captures the atmosphere of the Tassie rainforest much better than my phone camera can.
The green shows up much lusher and the resulting photos really draw you into the forest.
The Joy of An Art Supply Hoarder
My studio space is the spare bedroom in our house, which sometimes must be converted to a guest room, so it has to be flexible.
I have a large trestle table, a set of drawers, and the built-in wardrobe has been converted to art supply storage.
Although I have more storage now than ever, I still struggle fit it all in, I am a bit of an art supply hoarder.
A Love for Watercolour and Gouache
I like to try every medium at least once, but the medium I have been coming back to a lot is gouache and watercolours.
I really got into gouache when I lived in very small cottage and the only space for art was our two-seat dining table which obviously had to be cleared in time for dinner.
Gouache/watercolours were the easiest to pack away. I enjoy gouache because you can get the opacity like acrylic but still use them like watercolours.
Now that I have enough space for a studio (the spare bedroom) I am delving back into some other mediums.
Inspirational Gran
Something that has really shown through in my work in the past couple of years, comes from time spent with my Gran.
My Gran is an author and growing-up was always writing, and reading fairy stories and poetry to us.
At that age it was a known fact that fairies live in toadstool houses.
As an adult my fascination with fungi has leant more into the scientific realm, but they always hold a magical significance because of those stories.
Influencing Artists
Artists like Shirley Barber and Beatrix Potter have heavily influenced my work today.
However, I try not to limit myself to this theme. I also create works inspired my Tasmanian wildlife. As seen in my past entries in the Art Trails Tasmania exhibitions.
I studied zoology at university and often enjoyed practicing scientific illustrations which has impacted the style of my work in this thematic area.
Keeping a Nature Journal
I keep a nature journal when I am hiking or camping.
This mostly involved sketching, plants, animals, fungi, and scenery.
These are usually very rough sketches with a brief description of the subject.
Sometimes these lead to an artwork later, but usually it’s just good practice and a nice meditation to help focus on the small details of nature.
3 Lessons Learnt
1. Make what makes you happy, create the art you want to see. If you focus on making art based purely on what you think will sell, it takes the joy out of creating and that can reflect in your work. Create your art then find your audience.
2. Make “bad” art. This phrase is one I remind myself of constantly as a recovering perfectionist. Although it is a little misleading, as really there is no such thing as bad art, but I guess it really means, practice without worrying about it turning out perfect.
3. Explore different mediums, you never know when you will really click with something.
Favourite Art Experience
One of my favourite art experiences is participating in the annual Game of Shrooms.
This is a world-wide scavenger hunt for mushroom themed artwork.
Artist’s will hide a piece of art in their local area and reveal clues online about where to find it. I have done this twice now and can’t wait for the next one.
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About the Artist
Laurinda grew up in Launceston, and lives with her husband, Ben, and dog, Tinkerbell.
She studied a Bachelor of science at the University of Tasmania and currently works in the pet care industry.
Laurinda wants to explore more art mediums and become more involved in exhibitions in the future.
Explore Laurinda’s online shop and be sure to follow Laurinda on Facebook and Instagram.
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Artist Profile Stories
I want there to be more arts and crafts in our world, in our communities and in our own lives. Hopefully you’ve found this blog post inspiring and interesting.
So I’m creating, with your help, Art Trails Tasmania, allowing all of us who feel this love to create more of it.
And the Art Trails Tasmania blog is a key part of making this happen, telling the stories of members. It’s about what they have happening with workshops and classes, exhibitions, open studio trails, where to find their outlets, markets, fairs and festivals so you can shop their creations as well as their art and craft retreats.
Also being shared are the supporters of our artists, the galleries, shops, cafes, art societies and groups, places to stay and artist in residencies.
