An Anti-Bio Biography

My art career started with sketches of the cartoon Speedy Gonzalez that I sold at recess. After an intense high school art study and a discouraging Art teacher, I chucked my art dreams and went Business School at University of North Carolina, (Go Heels!)

It took 10 years of office job security that finished at a major healthcare corporation for me to realize that the corporate career track wasn’t for me. I’d rather chase after risky-
no-one-makes-it, non traditional, exciting life.  Challenge accepted!

I’m not the multi-degreed, highly-awarded, art history guru that many artists are. I am self-taught, and following a plan of no-plan because something magical happens when you do so.

Why I Paint…

My first commissioned piece of art was a painting of a marmot in the Vail, CO mountain landscape.  Without knowing the receiver’s story, I knew that it represented a meaningful moment.  This piece was a real struggle at first.  How can I make a marmot into a beautiful painting??  I was focused on my own ideals
for a painting subject, and my fears of painting something that wasn’t good enough.

The painting forced the question – what is my bigger purpose for doing art?  How can I serve with this gift?

Art is what the marmot brought.  The receiver told me that the piece was the most meaningful that he owned, and that it allowed him to connect to an emotional place that brought him to his highest, best state.  When I finally learned the story behind the marmot, I was incredibly touched by this magical moment represented by the painting.

I gained a purpose from the challenge and from the experience of the buyer.

My mission statement is to paint from a place where I can serve others – when I paint from that place, it in turn elicits a beautiful emotion from the viewer.  I hope to thank you for allowing me to do that for you : )

With gratitude,

Erin Elise Laughlin

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