How would you describe your art to someone that has yet to view it?
Wow I think you are right on., and that is a HUGE compliment from you, and makes me immediately think, “she gets’ it” and as an artist, I appreciate it when my work is understood. It’s my personal energy, the energy of my soul, that of the collective universe. All of it. My art is about energy, first and foremost. Personal connection and the visceral feelings I hope to elicit from my audience. My poppies are very serene and calming, and those are how I feel on many days, and my lollipop heads struggle with their hearts, their existence, and how to get to the next space in time, and sometimes I make landscapes, sometimes I make figures with gritty teeth. I try to capture the gamut of feelings that our physical selves are capable of feeling/experiencing.
TUSK: My favorite pieces of yours are from your Dia De Los Muertos series. “So This is the New Year Estrellas and All” and “5 Poppies for the Dead” are my personal favorites. If you had to, which one of your pieces would you choose as your personal favorite?
“Venus and Poppies Door” from 2003 (attached above). I just love Sandro Botticelli’s “Birth of Venus” painting, that has always been one of my favorite paintings, and this is my ode to that brilliance.
TUSK: I know it is important to you to stay as “Green” as possible. What sort of customs do you practice when creating new art to stay true to your passion to be earth friendly?
The bulk of my painting surfaces come from recycled doors, sometimes the full door (sans any hardware), sometimes part of a door. When people put them out by the trash, it just makes me sad, but then ecstatic because I just found a new surface to make something coolio on. I use a lot of Oops paint from home improvement stores, and I most often use water-base paint, as much as I can. I have used books, and magazines, and other “found” printed material for layering and texturing. Almost 99% of my wardrobe is recycled (reclaimed) and I paint on previously-owned handbags.
TUSK: You are known around Denver for your amazing live paintings of musicians at work. What is your favorite part of live painting?
I Love the music. I love Live Music. It gets in me, moves the brush, creates the moment. I love the challenge of creating a portrait of the band during their set. But making the sound into color is just the coolest thing.
TUSK: Do you have a most memorable event that you have painted live for?
For Film on the Rocks this past summer with the band Something Underground at Red Rocks Amphitheater. To be lucky enough to paint live on stage at that Amphitheater is one thing, but to then turn around and look at 10,000 faces, that’s a whole other ball game. That is jawdropping unbelievable
TUSK: What is the best piece of advice you have ever been given?
don’t forget to breathe
TUSK: What do you enjoy most about art and painting?
That you can re-invent yourself and your paintings whenever you want. But more so, that it’s a true way of connecting with others, emotionally, spiritually, and presently. This is how I best connect with the universe (I KNOW people think that is cheeseball) and when I paint I am completely in my authentic self, and that skin fits really really well.
TUSK: What is your most impact full childhood memory?
When my Kindergarten Teacher, Ms. Marske, wrote on one of my drawings, “Laurie is a very good artist.” I still have that drawing. I should go find that drawing for my next group show at Studio Shakta for “Body of Work”
TUSK:Laurie, I love the idea of discovering more about our true selves through producing art. You mentioned that you have always had a real desire to paint women and as the years passed, you started to realize you were discovering different parts of who you were by the women you depicted. How has being a painter helped you grow as a woman?
I was raised to be strong and smart. Honest and hardworking. My parents did not understand the art world, or what that meant, so they never really directed me to be a painter or an artist. They just wanted what was best for me, and in that – that I should pursue a career that would financially provide for me. And that financial success equaled life success.
When I realized that my own success, as my own soul- which includes all these aspects of myself: as a woman, as a mother, as a partner, as a daughter, ... That I had to define my own success, and that meant to pursue something in this lifetime that I felt completely authentic doing, and that my own success for me equaled joy, happiness, fulfillment and purpose...that I could best reach those goals by being and doing what I do best. And that is create.
As a woman, it is very difficult at times to be an artist, a painter. I think in the art world, women are compensated at less than 40% than that of men (you can check on those figures by going to GuerillaGirls (I think http://www.guerrillagirls.com/interview/index.shtml ) and so every opportunity I get for PR/ marketing/etc. Is brilliant! That I am a woman artist, that I am a woman live painter, that I am definitely a business woman...that I am here to rock this existence. I am here to inspire men and women, boys and girls to pursue their purpose in this lifetime. Mine is art.
TUSK: I noticed you are now selling one of a kind paint
ed handbags. What made you decide to offer this option to your fans?
He Haw, you said “fans.” One of my friends, Stephanie McNutt wanted a painting, but thought she might not be able to afford one (which is silly, I told her, because I always find away for people to afford my stuff.) So she suggested to paint on a handbag...and so I did, and about 300 bags later, I’m still making them. I see the bags as 1) a great way to recycle 2) a great way to get my art mobile and 3) to get my work international.
TUSK: Best part of living in Denver?
3 bestest: the big sky, the amazing music scene and the welcoming art community
TUSK: Favorite local haunt?
Strings Restaurant, because I love the owners. Noel and Tammy Cunningham are notably the most inspiring and most philanthropic people I know. I describe their foundation : www.cunninghamfoundation.org as a mini Ethiopian United Way. I have traveled with them to Ethiopia in 2008 and am going again this year in November to hopefully paint some murals in libraries and orphanages. Noel Cunningham is relentless in his pursuit to make the world a better place. For all people, and for the world’s most vulnerable. And his wife, Tammy, is one of my dearest friends and mentor’s. She has seriously shown me how to believe in myself and my work, and that has made all the difference for me.
TUSK: Who inspires you?
(see above) My husband Troy and our 2 sons, Forest and Mason. They inspire me on a daily basis and I am so grateful to have them in this lifetime.
Learn more about Laurie:
Laurie Maves ART
laurie@lauriemavesart.com
www.lauriemavesart.com
Studio Shakta
773 Santa Fe, Denver, CO 80204
Laurie Maves paining live at the Bowling Ball on Saturday October, 23rd to bennefit flobots.org. Learn more about this great organization on page 26,
