About Laura

Welding began as a job. Intrigued, while mastering each new technique, I unearthed a hidden creative outlet. I discovered a channel for self and spiritual expression. My metal sculpture art is a giving over of a piece of myself; the part of me that is thankful to God for the beauty of his creations.

My work reflects my deep passion for nature. The forests and mountains of Montana, its wildlife, and Native American culture continue to inspire me. Art is an expression

one tries to project to another by capturing it in a medium. Mine is metal. I constantly explore shapes I visualize in a piece of metal or in the combination of forms. My metal art work allows the expression of my curiosities that some may find beautiful, odd, wild or even obscure.

Here in Montana, my husband and I hike through the lush forests, over mountain peaks and through creeks, always finding inspiration. I love the way the moss grows along the jagged tree limbs, how mushrooms scatter there way around leaves mixing in with wildflowers and pinecones. Elk let out bugles, deer prance around, while a red fox plays peekaboo from his den. Eagles soar above and butterflies flutter below, bears frolic around in huckleberry patches and moose splash through the swamp. I like to capture the way I feel in these moments by recreating what I've experienced with different metals in my metal sculpture art work designs.

In 2012 I was hired to work on a natural gas pipeline in North Dakota. I practiced welding a lot, on breaks and after hours. Mostly it was because I fell in love with the way I was able to move that molten puddle. My artist’s eye saw rose petals hiding in the curve of the pipe and was awed by the colors of heated steel. Welding steel to steel creates sparks. Sparks create a magical environment, even in a North Dakota winter. 

Montana is where I began the nuts and bolts of my experimentation in crafting with steel as a medium, mostly nuts and bolts and a hoarder-size collection of rusting metal. It was cheap and abundant. After selling a number of scorpion sculptures, crafted mainly from sparkplugs, I gained confidence that my visions had value. Perhaps I had some talent? After winning a local contest for my woman-size, scrap metal sculpture art piece “Rust Chick”, I recognized her significance not only for the inspiration of winning but also her symbolism. I had created a projection of my life story. As I was able, I acquired different tools and materials to explore new metal art and design techniques and taught myself.