“It was both subversive and classical at the same time, owing as much to Margaret Keane as to the elongated forms of El Greco, yet the staggering technique and sheer force of beauty in the image propelled it out of the kitsch arena into something much more.”(Hi*Fructose, Vol. 5 2007 “Bewitched: The Art of Lori Earley,” by Kirsten Anderson)

“The inspiration comes from an emotion or feeling Lori wants to capture. ‘Most of the paintings are essentially self portraits of things I am going through at a specific time.’ She says. ‘If it’s not a painting of someone I know well in which I’m trying to convey something about them, 95% of the time it’s about me, but using someone else as a model.’ (Hi*Fructose, , Vol. 5 2007 “Bewitched: The Art of Lori Earley,” by Kirsten Anderson)

“The exaggerated features of her figures, with their huge, almond eyes and thin, willowy bodies, are all extensions of Earley’s psyche in one form or other. Whether it’s the deflated fatigue of a painting like ‘Drained,’ or the piercing glare of ‘Regret,’ they’re all manifestations of some element of the artist’s emotions. But regardless of whatever feeling Earley is addressing, the paintings all seem to be bathed in a sort of melancholy and each one of them communicate something deeper below their beautiful surfaces.” (Juxtapoz.com, April 19, 2007, Interview with Lori Earley By Kristopher Monroe)

There’s a lot of quotes on this artist, but I found them useful to collect. Her females all tend to carry that melancholy feeling without the overt “I’M SAD” expressions. Maybe one of these days I’ll get to see her work in person. Anyway, since she’s one of the few artists in my series of art inspiration posts to actually have a website, I suggest going there to see the rest of the work.

Artist Link- http://www.loriearley.com

In retrospect, I don’t think I would have had the determination if it weren’t for my mentor constantly supporting and challenging me. MCAD was the only school I researched into that had that unique learning experience attached to the curriculum. The school has it so that every graduate is partnered up with practicing artist in the area (and it’s a very artistic city, so lots of good choices).

Instead of going for a printmaking or even illustration mentor, I chose to be partnered up with Laura Stack, a painting and drawing mentor. She works with mixed media and although her type of work is fairly unrelated to my own (which is a good thing for me), it still has a graphic sensibility that I found in my own work. She’ll often bring ideas or critiques to meetings that often does not get brought up in my group critiques or with other teachers/visiting artists. Laura also helps me try to cope and with the school’s need to categorize myself into either fine arts or illustration, an issue she had to deal with in her own graduate school.

Some of my faves from her work:

Organic! Go!

-Megan