Meet Laura Shull: Freelance Artist

We had the good fortune of connecting with Laura Shull and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Laura, what led you to pursuing a creative path professionally?
Art always came naturally to me while most other things have not. Some people are really great orators, dancers, or can solve math problems off the top of their head, but I’ve just gravitated toward translating things visually. I’m a quiet person and like to observe my surroundings, so I think making art has been my way of making sense of the world around me, and creating the realities I wish existed.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
My paintings often feature women in fluffy, 18th Century-inspired dresses devouring sweet things. I love mixing together classical painting styles and references with modern touches. One of my pieces shows a girl in a corner at a lavish party, straight out of Marie Antoinette’s time, casually checking her text messages while smoking a cigarette. I’m an oil painter, but I’ve kind of developed my own one-person creative department from my little home studio. I’ve been teaching myself to piece together costumes from vintage clothing and scraps, style hair and wigs, painting backdrops, collecting furniture and props, and making faux food to recreate imagined scenes for painting reference. One of my favorite activities is researching and developing ideas, so I’ll immerse myself in a certain time period with movies, books, and tons of internet sleuthing. Luckily, I’ve built up a small, custom-portrait client base from people who’ve found my work online and locally in Marietta. (Cool Beans coffee shop kindly lets me hang prints in their café and I’ve met many lovely people that way). I’m typically very shy, so learning to come out of my shell sometimes and speak to people at galleries and for commissions has been a rewarding work in progress!

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
(Hopefully assuming things will be back to semi-normal by then…) we would first go to Douceur de France right off the Marietta Square and have a delicious pastry breakfast with coffee on the patio, then visit the local galleries there (dk Gallery, The Loft, and RobertKent to name a few), then finish it off with guacamole and margaritas at Taqueria Tsunami. When we venture into the city we would pick up something delicious from Revolution Doughnuts, take a tour at the High Museum of Art, browse Highland Row Antiques, then see what’s going on at Kai Lin gallery. After all that excitement, I would drag them to some my local antique haunts (Cobb Antique Mall and Treasure Hunt Antiques are two of my favorites!). Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I’m very grateful that both of my parents have been supportive and given me sound advice throughout the years… especially my Mom whom I just lost this month. I’m already missing her brutally honest and sassy critiques. A few past professors have graciously guided me when asked… especially Carolyn Rose, Joe Remillard, and Donald Robson. Lisa Spencer from RobertKent Galleries has also been incredibly encouraging and supportive since I’ve been showing there.

Website: www.laurashull.com

Instagram: www.instagram.com/laurashull

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/laura-shull-21364950

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/laurashullart

Other: Email address: info@laurashull.com