Laura  Atkins b. 1961 – 

 Laura Atkins, was born in Dearborn, Michigan in 1961 and was inspired into the art world at a very young age. After a career as a Surgical Nurse for 30 years, Laura felt it was time to start a new refreshing profession as a artist. Since 2012, Laura has built a reputation for works of art that transcend the commonplace to enter the realm of the sublime and otherworldly. She develops haunting images that evoke moods, dreams, and memories which create a remarkably compelling narrative. The physical and emotional isolation of her characters has emerged as a hallmark of her work. She explores abyss that opens when you seek to understand the place of the human in modernity. The people in her paintings are often called “lost, odd, mad,” or similar terms denoting something out of alignment with ordinary reality. She believes that letting ourselves explore the inherent “distortions” in reality is part of what gives us heart, and balance.
Laura uses techniques by the Old Masters and Pre-Raphaelite and is inspired by artists like Edward Gorey to John Singer Sargent with a twist. Also enticing Laura’s creativity was movie director Alfred Hitchcock, as well as Greek Mythology, Poetry, and Music. Her paintings often featured colorful and fantasy settings, blending romanticism with narrative symbolism while enhancing strong women with almost goddess-like capabilities. Within Laura’s enigmatic compositions, tales of woe and whimsical magic coexist. Her award winning work has been exhibited in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Detroit, Tulsa, Las Vegas, New York, Sag Harbor, NY and the MEAM in Barcelona, Spain and Sotheby’s