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About Laurel

After earning my bachelor's degree in painting from the Savannah College of Art and Design, I worked as a muralist and decorative painter around the San Francisco Bay Area for six years. Then I rediscovered my passion for drawing during the three summers I spent working as a retail caricature artist at the Santa Cruz Boardwalk. Since then I have begun to focus on smaller works in colored pencil and charcoal, rather than the large-scale projects I had been used to. Returning to drawing is an emotional return to the core of what I loved when I first discovered art. Looking at a drawing may be the closest we can get to understanding the direct experience of another person. Drawings can help us see our reality or heighten it; they can seek reality or invoke fantasy. My ideal drawing aims for somewhere in between.

Below are a few images of past mural and decorative projects. Although I no longer take commissions for this type of work, my experiences creating work for clients were incredibly valuable. I learned to accept a challenge, how to adapt, and ultimately I learned that I have to find my own path.

Exhibitions

2019     New Museum Los Gatos On the Shoulders of Giants, Los Gatos, CA

2016     Bargetto Winery Art in the Cellars, Santa Cruz, Ca

2015     First Fridays Art Tour, Santa Cruz, Ca

2014     The Santa Cruz Coffee Roasting Company

2014     Santa Cruz County Open Studios. Santa Cruz, Ca

2014     17th Avenue Studios Spring Exhibition. Santa Cruz, Ca

2013     Sebastopol Center for the Arts Flower Power Exhibition. Sebastopol, Ca

2012     Laurel Bushman Studio Art Expo. Santa Cruz, Ca

2010     Santa Cruz Art League Member Show. Santa Cruz, Ca

2008    The Long Thaw. Gunnison Arts Center, Gunnison, Co

2007     Surface Tension. Savannah, Ga

2007     Senior Painting BFA Exhibition. SCAD, Savannah, Ga

2007     Alexander Hall Open Studio. SCAD, Savannah, Ga 2007               

2007     Current Work: A National Competition. Juried Show. Rosenthal Gallery, NC

2006     Alexander Hall Open Studio. SCAD, Savannah, Ga                                              

2006     Lacoste Vernissage Exposition. Lacoste, France

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