Artist of the Month: Laura Siitari
Each month, the Franciscan Spirituality Center celebrates the creativity and talent of a local artist. Original pieces are on display in our Sophia Bookstore and can be purchased during regular business hours: 8:30 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday through Friday. Laura Siitari is the FSC Artist of the Month for April! She has a beautiful selection of original watercolor, pastel and oil paintings, in a variety of sizes, for sale. She also specializes in pet portraits.
Facebook: Laura Siitari
Facebook: RiverRoad Gallery
ARTIST STATEMENT:
As far back as I can remember, I've been an artist – starting with endless drawings on computer paper as a kid, which led me to choose art as a career. I received my Bachelor of Fine Arts from UW-Milwaukee and a graphics art degree from MATC, moving on to a 40-plus-year career as a graphic artist. Some of my early artistic influences were Japanese woodcuts with their strong angles, and Edouard Manet, Mary Cassatt and Edward Hopper with their bold shapes and color.
After moving from Milwaukee to the Coulee Region in 1999, I began painting in earnest and ran RiverRoad Gallery for five years in Lansing, Iowa. My husband and I eventually moved upriver to La Crosse, where I found a welcoming artist community. I continue to enjoy our beautiful rivers and bluffs.
For inspiration, I'm often drawn to interesting angels, the interplay of shadows and closeups of common objects. I prefer random arrangements to formal still life and work almost exclusively from photos I've taken. Most every time I draw or paint, I am awed by the intricacies in things I've always taken for granted. Look very closely at most anything in the natural world and you'll see what I mean.
My intent is to show the grace, tranquility and sometimes humor of fleeting moments and the everyday scenes as an antidote to the fast-paced routines we can get caught up in. Though my style is realistic, I'm not trying to fool the eye; rather, to distill what I find important about a scene.
That said, my latest series ("Little Skies") is my response to the changes in today's world. Despite sorrow and fear, I can look to the sky, which is always there, to bring me solace.