Cv/bio
THE ARTISTIC JOURNEY OF LAURA LEWIS
When I was in elementary school in Lubbock, Texas, I discovered that I am able to draw. Since then I have enjoyed developing this gift. When I was a teenager I had the opportunity to take private lessons from Glenna Goodacre in her home. At the University of Texas at Austin I took one semester as an art major and then pursued a career in the health field until 2001 when I became a full time artist. Many times during my health career and my art career I have enrolled in classes and workshops to improve my knowledge and skill in drawing and painting. Paul Milosevich, George Strickland, Matt Smith, and Camille Przewodek are accomplished artists whose instruction has been most helpful to me.
During my youth and on throughout my health career, I concentrated mostly on portraiture. Then in 1993, the vast open spaces of Wyoming inspired me to pursue landscape painting. I started with pastels and began painting in oils in 2003.
When I look back on the paintings I have made in the past ten years, I see many landscapes which make a "portrait" of the high plains and rolling plains of Texas. At a recent exhibit a young woman lingered in front of my paintings for quite some time. I told her that I appreciated that she was enjoying my work. She said, "I grew up here, but now I live in Tennessee. It is really beautiful there and all, but as I have been looking at your paintings, I realize that this is my home." Now, that put a lump in my throat.
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
Art on Texas Avenue October, 2011
Weiler House Fine Arts, September 2010
Art on Texas Avenue September 2009
"West Texas Landscapes": McCormick Gallery, Midland, Texas; September, 2007
"The Big Picture": EdibleMetal Gallery, Lubbock, Texas; February, 2007
"Rhythm in the Landscape": L. Hopkins Underwood Center for the Arts, Lubbock, Texas; October, 2005
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
Southwest Gallery, August 6 & 7 2011
The Texas Aesthetic IV, William Reaves Fine Art, now thru July 30 2011
Oil Painters of America Western Regional Exhibition, 2008 and 2009
Lubbock Centennial Celebration; 50 Years of Art: 2008
Midland Arts Association National Juried Show, Midland Texas: 2004
Red River Valley National Juried Show, Vernon, Texas: 2004, 2005
Pastel Society of New Mexico, Fisher Gallery, Albuquerque, New Mexico: 2000
AWARDS AND HONORS
Lubbock Art Festival Juried Exhibit: 2012, Best of Show
Lubbock Art Festival Juried Exhibit: 2009, Honorable Mention
Red River Valley National Juried Show, 2004: Best of Show
Midland Arts Association National Juried Show, 2004: Honorable Mention
Lubbock Arts Festival: 2003, Juror’s Award; 1997, Juror’s Award
Landscapes in the offices of Texas Supreme Court and at the State Capital building in the office of
State Representative John Frullo
PUBLICATIONS
The Complete Painter's Handbook 2012, published by American Artist Magazine
Texas Co-op Power Magazine July 2010 edition, Landscapes Reimagined, by Mary Lance
American Artist Magazine, February 2009 edition, Using Rhythm and Movement to Create Harmonious Landscapes, by Jana Fowler
