August’s Art Walk LA featured artist is Laurie Sproul of Canton, Maine, who creates fascinating wood sculptures that blend human intention with natural beauty.
LA Arts: Where will you be showing your work at this month’s Art Walk LA?
Laurie Sproul: The Argo building at 64 Lisbon Street, Lewiston.
LAA: When did you first become interested in the arts?
LS: Early in my life I joined my parents doing crafty things, an art in itself. This grew to a deeper sense of personal expression when I left school around 30 and started carving. More recently my interest in the arts has grown to exploring how they can facilitate communication of complex ideas through beauty and emotion.
LAA: What is your current preferred medium? Which have you explored in the past?
LS: I have always favored wood for it’s accessibility, expressiveness, and beauty. It remains alive to me even after having been cut. I enjoy the tactile 3-dimensionality of ceramics, but find wood more of a soulmate.
LAA: What inspires your work?
LS: Nature’s quiet, simple elegance has been the ongoing inspiration for my work. More recently I have been focused on humanity’s quest for healthier living for ourselves and our environment.
LAA: How is your heritage reflected in your art?
LS: My heritage is Scottish frugality, farm productivity, and natural exploration. My art uses local resources and accessible methods, increasingly combined with found objects, and communicates the value of nature with which we must learn to co-exist.
LAA: What is it like to be an artist in the LA area?
LS: I live in Canton, Maine. I am intrigued by the spiritual depth of art in Maine, evidence of what it is that has kept me in Maine all my life. The richness of our independence and individual spirit is strengthening communities across the state, finding an outlet in art. I’m excited to be part of that growth in LA.
LAA: What’s your relation to LA Arts and its community arts work?
LS: My husband commutes through Auburn and often comments on the art hanging along the way. I am involved in the Androscoggin Land Trust and generally am aware of and impressed by efforts to improve the LA area. My neighbor, George Ramos, has been involved in the arts there, and has invited me to begin to participate in the art scene.
LAA: Where can people go (either online or in-person) to see more of your work?
LS: lauriesproul.com; laurie sproul floral design on FB; lauriesproul on Etsy; Maine Coastal Islands National Wildlife Refuge Visitor Center Art Gallery, 9 Water Street, Rockland through July; Ironbound, Camden; and Sugarwood Gallery, Farmington.