About
Post Baccalaureate Graduate 2008; MAT 2022
Laura Sunderland currently teaches Advanced Art at York Middle School in York, ME. Prior to York, she taught middle school art at Rye Junior High in Rye, NH. She resides in Eliot, ME with her family and was surprised to find herself settling in Maine after her year at Maine College of Art in 2008. She is originally from Massachusetts, but went to the University of Colorado at Boulder and anticipated returning to the west after her year in Portland. However, she fell in love with Maine and the Seacoast and so did her husband! In addition to teaching, Laura has been exploring lifestyle photography, and after having completed the MAT pathway program, she looks forward to painting more and participating in local opportunities to show her work.
Gallery
Artist Statement
This painting series is called “Seaweed Series-After the Storm”, which refers to the storm of life and motherhood that has taken priority for a long time. Having the opportunity to pursue my Masters in Art and Teaching at Maine College of Art & Design came into my life at exactly the right time. I was at a point in time when I was looking for a way to connect with my artmaking again and to look at my teaching through a more refined lens. I am excited to share my process and my work.
I decided to revive an old series that I created in 2010 which was before I had an established teaching practice or a family. I used to walk the beaches and come home with seaweed that I would dry out and keep on my desk for inspiration. I developed a seaweed series that included watercolor and ink as well as acrylic paintings. The former series had a variety of designs, textures, and a lot of floating orbs that could be interpreted as fish eggs or embryo-like imagery. I showed this series at a local restaurant, but this is the last time I have shown my artwork in a public venue like that. For my new series, I began with sketches and I made progress on two works before looking at the old series for ideas or inspiration. My initial priority was to connect with the sense of self that I feel when I am creating artwork, and I wanted to initiate this series based on new ideas instead of copying the old. I experimented with some new materials such as paint pens and new glitter glue to increase visual interest and texture.
When I plan out my paintings, I focus on shapes and break up my space in an interesting way. I often look at images of seaweed that I have in a beautiful beach book, or I look at real seaweed to influence my shapes and design. I decide on colors ahead of time but the plan often changes once it is in process. For these two paintings, I started with familiar colors that I have used before and then I experimented with much darker colors on the second canvas. I view the paintings as colorful interpretations of what lies beneath us in the ocean and it may also represent what lies beneath inside of me. The ocean has always been an important part of my life, and my mind is the quietest it can be when I am in the salt water or when I am making art.
Painting has always been my favorite medium, but I have stayed away from it as my “go to” medium since becoming a mom because of my fear of getting interrupted by tiny people. However, I was surprised with how quickly I got back into painting and I was happy to find that I was able to break up the parts of the paintings into shorter time frames. This made it possible to do even with my children home from school on vacation. I did not expect the artmaking component of this course to be as successful as it was and I am feeling very positive about reaching my goals in the future. It feels more attainable to maintain a painting practice at home and balance it with work and life. I am motivated to create new artistic goals for myself that put me out into my community as an artist, but the most important thing that I discovered from this experience was how it feels when I make my own work for myself.