Bio And Statement Page



						ARTIST'S PERSONAL STATEMENT My paintings are meant to trigger daydreams. They are a response to quiet moments spent in nature's grasp. Recalling a familiar feeling of place they, at the same time, show the viewer a more intimate, exaggerated perspective. I call it a bug's eye view. Through my work I try to evoke a refreshing response to the commonplace. To best evolve creatively I immerse myself in a particular subject. Becoming at one with the total environment, I engage all my senses, rejoicing in the sights, sounds, smells, and feelings of a given place. As a result, my watercolors, and now egg temperas, have traveled through a variety of subject themes: from flowers, to birch, to the Alaskan tundra, from the ocean's edge, upstream to the Arizona desert. Whether it be pond lilies, rocks, or cactus I take a subject and crawl inside, exploring all aspects of pattern and shape.
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							ARTIST'S BIOGRAPHY Laura J. Eden was born in Hartford Ct in 1958. She has been passionate about her art since she was a small child. Art is in her roots. Laura’s grandmother, Louise Powers Slayden, was an accomplished artist in her own right. Laura had the good fortune to study privately with her spending summers in her Old Saybrook studio painting furiously. Laura went to Watkinson School for high school which nurtured her artistic talents and allowed her to achieve 15 college credits from the Hartford Art School while still in high school. She then studied art at Syracuse University and the University of Connecticut, receiving her BFA from UCONN in 1980. After college Laura taught art at Watkinson School and took graduate courses at the Hartford Art School during that time. She has been a full time artist ever since. Laura has been the recipient of various awards beginning early on in college receiving “The Most Promising Freshmen Artist Award” from Syracuse University. She has been a member, board member and award recipient of the Connecticut Watercolor Society and a past member of the Connecticut Women Artists. She is currently an elected member and board member of the Connecticut Plein Air Painters Society, and a member and past president of the Granby Artists Association. Laura has been in dozens of solo and group exhibitions. Her work can be found in numerous corporate collections including Otis Elevator, United Technologies Corporate, Kaiser Permanente, Aetna Life and Casualty , Cigna and the Travelers Insurance to name a few. Her work has been collected by over 1000 private and corporate collectors throughout the US and abroad. Laura is currently represented by Trees Place Gallery, Orleans MA and Bayview Gallery, Brunswick and Camden, ME After being a watercolorist for 22 years Laura switched mediums to egg tempera in 2002. Her intimate, detailed view of nature lends itself perfectly to this medium.


									SELECTED CORPORATE/PUBLIC COLLECTIONS Aetna Life and Casualty Kaiser Permanente American Nuclear Insurers Kidder Peabody & Co. Connecticut Bank and Trust Otis Elevator Connecticut General/CIGNA Peoples Savings Bank Connecticut National Bank Robinson and Cole Connecticut Mutual Insurance Ryan and White Danaher, O'Connell, Attmore, Scolers Restaurant Tedford and Flaherty PC Shawmut Bank Covenant Life Insurance Co. Simsbury Public Library Day, Berry and Howard Stanadyne Inc. Farmington Savings Bank Travelers Insurance, Hartford Hospital (Christmas Card 1982, 84) Home Bank and Trust United Bank Hunt and Leibert United Technologies Corporate TheWatkinson School PROFESSIONAL AFFILIATIONS 1983-2004 Connecticut Watercolor Society 1993-1999 Connecticut Woman Artists 2002-present Granby Artist’s Association 2007-present Connecticut Plein Air Painters Society, Elected Artist PROFESSIONAL SERVICE 1984-1985 Creative Arts Advisory Board, Watkinson School 1985-2001 Board Member, Connecticut Watercolor Society 1986-1987 Vice President, Connecticut Watercolor Society 1988-1994 Alumni Recognition Board, Watkinson School 1997-2001 Secretary, Connecticut Watercolor Society 2003-2005 Webmaster Granby Artists Association 2006-2007 President Granby Artists Association 2008-present Board Member, CT Plein Air Painters So. 2009-present Treasurer and Membership Chair
			GALLERY AFFILIATIONS 1981-1991 Arts Exclusive Gallery, Avon, CT 1985-1993 Tree's Place, Orleans, MA 1989 Asao Gallery, St. Simons Island, GA 1991-1992 Tatler/Wexford Galleries, Hilton Head, SC 1991-1997 Studio Gallery, Bloomfield, CT 1993-1994 Carrier Gallery, Scottsdale, AZ 1994-1996 Damarin Gallery, Wiscasset, ME 1996-1997 Hartford Framing Gallery, East Hartford CT 1998-1999 Tofias Gallery, Waltham, MA 1996-2005 Sea Lion Gallery, Homer, AK 1997-2009 State Of The Arts, Hartford, CT 1997-2000 Studio Gallery, Farmington Valley Arts Center, Avon CT 2000-present Home Studio/Gallery, Granby, CT 2002-present Jennifer Galleries, Ltd, Avon CT 2002-present J. Vallee Brunelle Fine Art, Granby, CT 2004-present Tree’s Place, Orleans MA 2005-present Bayview Gallery, Brunswick and Camden, ME 2008- 2009 Left Bank Gallery, Essex CT 2010-Present Stony Creek Gallery, Branford, CT 2010-present Gallery Northstar, Grafton, VT SELECTED AWARDS 1977 Syracuse University: Most Promising Freshman Artist 1979 University of Connecticut: Witryol Award / Studio Art 1980 University of Connecticut: Snow Award for Watercolor 1983 Connecticut Watercolor Society: First Place 1991 Connecticut Women Artists: Mechanics Bank Award 1992 Wintonbury Art League: Watercolor Award 1996 Connecticut Watercolor Society: Second Place 2006 Comier Award, Granby’s Natural Landscape GLT show 2007 Connecticut Plein Air Painters, Honorable Mention 2009 Orluk Award, Granby Land Trust Show RECENT SHOWS 2006 Seven Egg Tempera Masters, Trees Place Orleans MA 2006 ,’07,’08,’09 Granby Land Trust Juried Show, Granby CT 2007 Lay of the Land, Three Visions of New England, Bayview Gallery, Brunswick ME 2007,’08,’09 Connecticut Plein Air Painters Show, East Hartford CT 2007 New Britian Museum of American Art Juried Show 2009 Her Mark: Paintings by our Women Artists, Bayview Gallery 2010 Group show , Stony Creek Gallery