Featured Artist Lori Latham

Enjoy the peaceful energy in artist Lori Latham’s collection of abstracts, and her story of transformation and fulfillment. See more by visiting her website.

 

 

I began painting when I was 30. I worried I was too old to start something new, but then I had a lifechanging thought, “In 10 years, I will be 40 and have 10 years of experience. In 20 years, I will be …”  You get the idea. Suddenly, what felt like a crazy idea turned into something I could not resist. I continue to use that thought to start new projects and invite you to do the same. It helps get things moving.

 

 

My first painting project was a stenciled frieze of Noah’s Ark for my daughter’s bedroom. I still remember asking for help in the art store to choose the primary colors I needed. I also spent a lot of time selecting the correct grey for the elephant.

 

 

This stenciling project started my career as an artist, and it has been an incredible journey. I began stenciling friends’ and relatives’ homes in New York. When we moved to California, I learned how to create faux finishes for interiors and have not looked back.

 

 

I worked with an incredible artist from San Francisco. He taught me many tricks of the trade in the interior decorative painting field. After relocating to Portland, Oregon, I left interior painting behind and taught myself to make floorcloths. These are very durable canvas area rugs. I used all the skills I had learned in the interior decorative painting business.

 

 

Over time, I eventually had to be courageous and put a nail in the wall to hang a painting. It was terrifying. Up until then, I told people I was an interior decorative painter. Now, I had to own being an artist, and a certain amount of weight is involved in attaching that title to one’s name.

 

 

It’s been over 30 years since I decided to own being an artist and dedicate myself to painting abstract landscapes. During my career, I have enjoyed teaching workshops, showing in galleries, working on commissions for corporations and private homes, and selling and shipping paintings nationally and internationally.

 

 

Painting fills me up and makes my heart sing. I never tire of being in the studio and slopping paint around—what fun! I still use all the tricks I learned while executing faux finishes in San Francisco.

 

 

The number one rule of the trade was hide your tool marks. It is difficult to tell exactly how I create the rich layers of texture in my paintings. Sometimes, I don’t even know how I did it because searching for happy accidents is integral to my process.

 

 

I would love to share this message with you: No one will give you permission to paint or do whatever your heart desires. If you wait for permission, you will wait your whole life. Don’t wait. Start the clock. Start now, and remember, in ten years, you will have ten years of experience, which is pretty cool. Take the risk. Enjoy the journey.

 

Lori Latham invites you to follow on Facebook.

 

 

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