Today we’d like to introduce you to Laurie Kersey.
Hi Laurie, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
Laurie Kersey’s life as an artist began as a child in rural Ohio. She grew up in an artistic household and always loved to draw and paint. Her mother enjoyed painting in oils when Laurie was young and then later switched to watercolors. Her father was a horseman, training and racing harness horses, and she spent her summers helping out in the barn at the track.
After an early art education at the Art Institute of Pittsburgh and then a 15 year career in commercial art as an Art Director and Illustrator on the East Coast, Kersey relocated to San Francisco, studied painting at the Academy of Art University, and made the switch to fine art. She later taught painting and drawing in the Fine Art Department at the Academy.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
After 15 years in the graphic arts field in North Carolina she dropped everything to move out West to become a fine artist. Kersey talked about her significant and risky career change, explaining, “I had started doing some oil painting on the side, and I found that I was much more interested in my painting in my studio than in the project on my desk. So I sold almost everything I owned and put the rest in a pickup truck and moved to California. I took painting classes at the Academy of Art University in San Francisco and waitressed on the side to pay the bills.”
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
Though excited about painting myriad aspects of the natural world, including landscape and floral, a dominant theme in her work is horses. Having ridden for many years, she has come to realize that her hands-on experience with horses uniquely influences the way that she sees and paints them.
“My equine paintings focus on the relationships – between horses, or between horse and human. That’s the part I know well. As beautiful as the outside of a horse is, it’s the inside that interests me the most. One of my favorite things about riding is meeting and getting to know so many different horses; different characters and personalities, different quirks, likes, and dislikes. I love discovering those things as a rider, and I love trying to express them in a painting.”
Pricing:
- $1000 to $10,000 depending on size
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.lauriekersey.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lauriekersey
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/laurie.kersey
