LAR Art Studio Fragments
January 2025 Update
Hello + Happy New Year!
It brings me so much joy to share a brief update with you about my upcoming solo show opening at Reynolds Gallery in Richmond, VA, this Friday, as well as two workshops I’ll be teaching this summer.
Let’s start with the show…
What the Mirror Said is an intimate cartography of becoming—a visual exploration of identity where memory assembles itself like a living collage. Here, fragments do not merely coexist; they breathe, dissolve, and reconstruct themselves, mirroring the fluid nature of self-understanding. In contemplating the mirror's message as a daily embodiment practice, I inserted my own likeness into some of the work for the first time.
Water moves through these works as both medium and metaphor—eroding boundaries, revealing hidden landscapes of experience. Each piece becomes a threshold, a portal where past and present exchange whispers, where the inner child speaks in layers of color and texture.
Guided by the ancestral wisdom of Black authors—Lucille Clifton, bell hooks, Alice Walker, Ntozake Shange, Audre Lorde, Natasha Trethewey, and James Baldwin—these visual poems pulse with a quiet, revolutionary tenderness. They have no interest in resolution but simply seek to witness: to hold space for complexity, for the sacred act of becoming.
Echoing Lucille Clifton's profound words:
i continue to continue
where i have been
most of my lives is
where I’m going
These works are an affirmation—looking before, looking beneath, ever-transforming, carrying on . . .
///
Also on view will be a solo presentation by Leah Raintree, an artist based in Richmond, VA, with a studio in Brooklyn, NY. Leah’s practice explores the deep connections between humans and the earth, with a focus on time, matter, scale, and phenomena. Rooted in experimental drawing, her work spans ceramics, photography, and site-specific materials to reveal the interplay between human and geologic scales. Growing up on a small farm in rural Virginia, Leah’s process often returns to the tactile act of “touching earth” as a way to explore our relationship with the natural world.
UPCOMING WORKSHOPS
This summer, I am thrilled to lead two mixed-media collage workshops- Snow Farm: The New England Craft Program on the East Coast, and The Glen Workshop hosted by Image Journal in Seattle, Washington, on the West Coast, These workshops will offer hands-on exploration of materials and techniques, alongside contemplative exercises to uncover new ways of storytelling and self-expression.
First up- Snow Farm The New England Craft Program in Williamsburg, MA.
May 14-18, 2025
Visually explore what lies within through the art of mixed media collage. Utilize a variety of materials—including paper, acrylic paint, found and discarded objects, and unconventional tools—to craft emotive and unique collages that come alive with texture, line and color. This class emphasizes the process of creation rather than the end result, inviting students to follow their curiosity, developing their own visual vocabulary through layers of mark-making and composition.Every day students will learn a creative flow exercise, collage techniques (image transfer, printmaking, various adhesives you can use to build layers, etc.) and create multiple collage works. Overcome the fears that often hold us back from making that first cut or gluing that first piece and unleash your creativity! All levels welcome.
Registration opens on January 16!
*May 14 is the arrival day for this session. Workshop instruction starts on May 15 and ends May 18.
Click HERE to learn more and to register.
Then in July I will be joining the faculty of The Glen Workshop.
Echoes of the Interior: Contemplative Mixed Media Collage
July 20-26, 2025
In this workshop we will enter into a creative process to reveal visually what lies within us through creative contemplative practices to make mixed media collage. We will use acrylic paint, paper, found/discarded objects, and various printmaking and transfer techniques to create works that are emotive, unique, and alive.
Each studio session will provide space for participants to follow their curiosity and create their own visual vocabulary of texture, color, mark-making, and composition to create moments of encounter upon the substrate. This class is all about the process and not getting distracted by what the final piece may become. It is a process of fostering curiosity and wonder, as well as creativity and overcoming some of the fears that can keep us from making the first mark.
By the end of the workshop you will have begun and/or created one small canvas piece + at least 5 smaller works on paper. You will also have a variety of abstract mixed media painting techniques like cyanotype, image transfers, and monoprinting, as well as ideas to take with you.
Registration is now open.
Click HERE to learn more and to register.
A few things inspiring me in the studio
Music:
My January 2025: Reset Playlist. This is an evolving not curated playlist of songs I find myself listening to on repeat for hours as I work.
Books:
Ordinary Notes by Christina Sharpe
Home by Toni Morrison
Communion by bell hooks
Glimpses from the Studio
January Creativity Prompt: New Beginnings
As the new year unfolds, it’s is usual for us to take time to pause, reflect upon where we have been and dream about where we want to go. Over the past couple of years I have participated in a Vision Board workshop led by my sister, that has helped me see how collage offers a great way to reflect and compose those intentions and dreams.
For this month’s prompt, I am inviting you to gather images, colors and textures that resonate with your intentions, hopes and desires for the year ahead. Glue them down on a poster board, canvas, mixed media paper or a wood panel, and then place it in a place where you will see it often as a compass for how you hope to live your days.
Start with Reflection: Sit and be with your thoughts for awhile. Journal on the themes of beginnings and possibility. What does “new” feel like to you? What dreams do you have or aspirations are you carrying in all aspects of your life?
Gather Materials: Search for images that are visual reflections of your written words. Select images that spark joy, curiosity or connect to your vision for this year.
Compose Your Vision: Make your collage! Let the process be intuitive—don’t overthink. Have fun.
Anchor Your Work with Words: Add a word, phrase, or quote that captures the essence of your vision. Let it be a guiding light for the year.
This is definitely not about perfection. Give yourself space to play, imagine and create your wildest dreams. As you create, let your collage remind you that every new beginning holds infinite possibilities.
The LAR Art Studio Patreon Community
This is an invitation for you to support my artistic practice, as I continue to embrace the work I feel called to do in the world: creating art, contributing to conversations + curating spaces that bridge communities, and cultivating opportunities for others to create and connect.
For the past 10 years, my artistic practice has been about more than creating works with my hands; it’s been about fostering spaces where creativity can flourish, where art becomes a bridge to deeper meaning, and where we collectively contribute to making this world a more humane dwelling. To support and sustain this work, I’ve recently launched a Patreon community, a platform that offers a closer, more personal connection to my practice.
Through Patreon, I share behind-the-scenes glimpses of my process, early previews of new works, and reflections on the intersections of art, spirituality, and humanity. It’s a way for me to invite those who believe in my work into this evolving journey, and for you to play a vital role in sustaining not just my practice but also the spaces I curate and cultivate for others to create and connect.
If this resonates with you, I’d be honored to have your support in this new chapter. You can find more details about my Patreon community below.
LAR Art Studio Patreon Community
Click HERE to request an AVAILABLE WORKS PDF
