Laurie Kersey at Pitzer's Fine Arts

Laurie’s career in art began as a small child. And although the mediums and techniques have changed over the years, the fascination has remained the same.

She participated in the first of many art shows at the age of 13, accompanying her mother, a watercolorist, to shows throughout eastern Ohio. After graduating from high school in 1979, she was awarded a full tuition scholarship at the Chatauqua Institute in Chatauqua, NY.

There was never any question as to what her occupation would be: the only question was what kind of art would she pursue. Lured by the prospect of a regular paycheck, she chose the graphic arts. Her commercial art career began the following spring when she enrolled at the Art Institute of Pittsburgh in Pittsburgh, PA. After a few years as working as a layout artist at Project Merchandising in Cleveland, and comprehensive production artist at Rainbow Grinder in Pittsburgh, she migrated south to the Outer Banks of North Carolina in 1985.

For most of her eleven years on the Outer Banks she was employed as an Art Director/Illustrator at Advertising Design Services in Kill Devil Hills, NC. It was during those years that the natural beauty of the area inspired her to begin painting. She taught herself to work with oils and found representation at a gallery in North Carolina. In 1993 she left the beach for the Arizona Desert. She spent about a year in Sedona painting the incredible scenery and working for Eaton Associates as an Illustrator/ Art Director. Drawn back to the beach in 1984, she found work as a freelance illustrator, pursuing painting on the side. During that time she produced work for clients such as the National Park Services, Ramada Inn, Days Inn, and Harlequin Books. By this time painting had become her main focus. She was realizing that fine art, not commercial art was where her heart was.

As her interest in painting grew, she began to explore the possibility of making painting her full time occupation. This led her in early 1997, to the Academy of Art College in San Francisco, CA. The Academy offered the traditional approach she was looking for, coupled with a realistic view of the business of art. Upon completion of her studies at the Academy she was offered a teaching position and embarked upon a new phase of her career. As for the current direction of her work she says, “I remain devoted to oils and my interest remain the traditional genres of landscape, still life and equine.”