Laurie Goldstein

FINE ART

SELECTED WORKPaper & Mixed Media Collages

Stacks Image 2012559 — Ephemera Collection

Stacks Image 2012571 — Mixed Media Collection

Stacks Image 2012636 — Experimental Collection

I am inspired to create art that is full of color and texture.

Often I tear pieces of papers – catalogs, foreign currency, newspapers, textbooks, stamps and papers collected from all over the world – trying to find harmony between several pieces - that’s how a collage starts for me. I can see the beautifully patterned edge of a piece of foreign currency and use that as a start for a piece. I then search for other pieces of paper that complement it. I frequently tear up old collages, and even old monotypes on my own handmade paper, so that I can use some element from them in a different collage. It’s a lot like putting puzzles together and there is still that thrill when the right piece is found and it all gets put together!

I started creating art at an early age. In my family there were lots of artists, so I was surrounded by a certain way of looking at things long before I could even appreciate what was around me. From my fashion designer aunt who made clothes for Jackie Kennedy, to a cousin who did freelance pen and ink sketches for ad campaigns, to several interior designers and ‘Sunday’ painters, my family thought art was important and I learned to express myself through art.

I took ceramics classes, sculpted in clay, painted, and wove wall hangings through my school years. In high school I created some jewelry for myself and soon was selling to friends and in a local coffee house. When my son was born and I was in the house more, I started creating painted children’s tee shirts and sweatshirts. I created custom designs and after a while my son’s schoolmates were wearing what I’d created as well.

Everything I see gives me inspiration. The color of a sunset, the wispy shape of the fog rolling in over a bridge, a carved panel, or the design of a wrought iron fence all get me thinking about shapes and colors. I have used the color of sun kissed leaves on the ground, and even markings on sidewalks as the starting point for my collages.

Regardless of where I am, a trip out of the country, or to a weekend getaway, gives me plenty of new ideas. I never tire of finding an image or idea and turning it on its head a bit to help me say what I want in a piece.

Although my works are not representational, they are honoring something I have seen or experienced, so they are representative of something – to me.