Laura W. Adams Demonstrating Her Technique

Watch this video filmed by HGTV's program, "That's Clever", to see Laura W. Adams create one of her paper collage paintings


artist's statement- laura w. adams

I have been an avid bird watcher and hiker for many years. My artwork reflects the joy I experience in nature and my spiritual journey through nature. I have been inspired by many artists, most notably the collages of Matisse, the watercolors of Audubon, the colorful mosaics and paintings of Klimt and the sense of self and purpose of O’Keeffe.

My artistic process is unique. I use paper and a clear acrylic medium to create my work. I do not use paint – I use the colors and textures and patterns of a variety of papers as my palette. I use many layers of paper, sometimes 15-20 different layers, to achieve the effects I am seeking. The finished work often has a bas-relief and a texture that is not evident from digitized images. The papers I use come from around the world, such as mulberry based papers from India, China, Japan and Nepal. My favorite papers are the beautiful Japanese washi papers that are used for origami. I also favor colorful book binding papers from Italy, as well as the textured fibrous papers from Mexico. I have been working in this medium for over 25 years, and it has taken me these many years to master the process.






biography

Laura W. Adams is a paper collage artist whose work depicts the forests, wildlife and wildflowers of the world. She concentrates her subject matter on the flora and fauna and birds that live in areas around her. An avid birder and hiker, Adams’ work brings the viewer into the emotional and spiritual connection she feels in the presence of nature. She has been a working artist for over 25 years, and has also worked as a gallerist, an art reporter, and a guest museum curator. 


The source material Adams uses for her collages include found items from nature, textured papers, painted papers and exotic patterned papers that have been cut up, layered, and adhered with acrylic medium. Often, ten or more layers of material are used to create a single work. The result is a “painting”, without using paint, with a distinct, three-dimensional effect.


Adams has shown her work in galleries and juried exhibitions throughout the United States. Her pieces are owned in a number of corporate collections as well as private collections around the world. She currently shows her work in galleries in New York, NY, Lenox, MA, Richmond VA, Nashville, TN, Charleston, SC and Beaver Creek, CO.


Adams ventured into the business side of the art world when in 2016 she opened Brickworks Gallery in an historic, industrial era building on the Atlanta Beltline’s Eastside Trail. The gallery is now open by appointment only, as it is also the working artist studio of Adams.


Adams started her artistic journey in a non-conventional manner. Growing up as an artistic person, she began her college career in photojournalism at the University of South Carolina. She soon changed course after considering her future employment options, graduating from South Carolina in 1985 with a Bachelor of Arts degree with a major in Political Science and minors in Business Administration and History. Adams then attended Emory University School of Law, graduating with a Juris Doctor degree in 1989.
Adams moved to Savannah, Georgia after her law school graduation and practiced for six years in the areas of corporate and commercial litigation, all the while continuing her creative side life of photography. Her law firm, facing dissolution in 1995, left Adams with the option of continuing on with her law practice as a partner in a new firm, or leaving legal practice altogether. She left the law to pursue her artistic muse.


After a number of years of experimenting with photography, Adams became frustrated with the limits of the photographic medium. She began cutting up her photographs and rearranging them, adding in colored and textured papers. She eventually created a new collage technique, moving away from photography entirely. It is in this collage medium that Adams continues to practice her art today. Adams has been a professional working artist for more than 25 years.
 

artist's Resume /c.v.

Education and Work Experience:

University of South Carolina, B.A. Political Science, 1985

Emory University School of Law, Juris Doctor 1989

Practiced law in corporate and commercial litigation fields in Savannah, Georgia 1989-1995. 

Freelance visual arts writer for Coastal Antiques and Arts Magazine, Savannah News and Press, Creative Loafing Savannah, Connect Savannah Magazine, 1995-2001

Shows, Exhibits and Awards:

Upcoming Shows 2024:

An American Craftsman Gallery, Lenox, MA, solo exhibition opening July26, 2024

Sportsmans Gallery / Paderewski Fine Art, Beaver Creek, CO, solo exhibition opening July 5, 2024

Spring Island Art Gallery, Spring Island, SC, solo exhibition opening week of April 15, 2024

Southeast Wildlife Exposition, "SEWE" Charleston Place Hotel, Charleston, SC, invitational exhibition artist,  February 14-18, 2024

Past Shows:

Sportsmans Gallery / Paderewski Fine Art, Nashville, TN, "All Creatures Great and Small", solo exhibition opening October 15, 2023

The Muse Winery, Woodstock, Virginia, "Nevermore", group show celebrating Ravens, Crows and Blackbirds, October 1-31, 2023

An American Craftsman Gallery, Lenox, MA, July, 2023, solo exhibition, "Meet the Artist"

Sportsmans Gallery / Paderewski Fine Art, Charleston, SC group exhibition, "The Low Country", July, 2023

Sportsmans Gallery / Paderewski Fine Art, Beaver Creek, CO, December 2022, group exhibition, "The Four Directions"

An American Craftsman Gallery, Lenox, MA, July, 2022, solo exhibition, "Meet the Artist"

Sportsmans Gallery / Paderewski Fine Art, Nashville, TN, May, 2022, solo exhibition, "Overstory / Understory"

An American Craftsman Gallery, Lenox, MA, July, 2021, solo exhibition, "Meet the Artist"

Mystic Osprey Gallery, Beaufort, South Carolina, May - June, 2021, solo exhibition, "On the Edge: Our Maritime Forests," www.mysticosprey.com

Hudgens Center for the Arts, Gwinnett County, Georgia, February - April, 2021, curation of show, "Three Billion", solo exhibit of "Flock" www.thehudgens.org

Gallery Wild, Jackson Hole, Wyoming, August  2020, Artist Invitational www.gallerywild.com

Southeast Wildlife Exposition, "SEWE" Charleston Place Hotel, Charleston, SC, invitational exhibition artist February 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021(canceled due to COVID-19), 2022, 2023, upcoming exhibitor 2024

Wilkes Art Gallery Wilkesboro, NC, August - September 2019 , invitational group exhibition 

Plantation Wildlife Arts Festival invitational exhibition artist, Thomasville, GA November 19-22, 2015

"Southern Roots" two person pop-up show at Kathi Rich, 2515 Abercorn Street, Savannah, GA November 12, 2015

"Transitions” solo exhibit at Off the Wall Gallery at 45 Bistro, 123 East Broughton Street, Savannah, GA, April - June 2015

“Southern Winters” two person exhibit at Hall Barnett Gallery, 237 Chartres Street, New Orleans, LA , December 2014- February 2015

“Audubon Interpretations” solo exhibit at the Lagerquist Gallery, 3235 Paces Ferry Place, Atlanta, GA , November, 2013

“Chicks” group exhibition, Bascom Art Center Gallery, Highlands, North Carolina, March 31 - June 17, 2012

“Freshwater” solo exhibition, Catherine Kelleghan Gallery, 309 East Paces Ferry Road , Atlanta, Georgia, April 2012

“Kia Ora New Zealand!” solo exhibition, An American Craftsman Gallery, 223 West Broughton Street, Savannah, Georgia, June - July 2011  

"Down a Paper Trail" solo exhibition, Catherine Kelleghan Gallery, 309 East Paces Ferry Road, Atlanta, Georgia, April 2010

"Sprang! a Lighthearted Look at Spring in the South" solo exhibition, An American Craftsman Gallery, 223 West Broughton Street, Savannah, Georgia, April - May 2009

Telfair Museum of Art Juried Exhibition November 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, Savannah, GA. Awarded Second Place, 2001, juror Joseph Schenk, Director of the Mobile Museum of Art; Merit Award, 2003, juror Elizabeth Fleming, Director of the Gibbes Museum of Art, Charleston, South Carolina

"No Place Left to Go” solo exhibition, Gallery Espresso, 234 Bull Street, Savannah, Georgia, October 2008

"From Bee Balm to Bears, the Conservation of a High Mountain Farm" new collage work by Laura W. Adams, two-person show, The Artists House Too Gallery, Main Street, Bryson City, North Carolina, July 2008

Bellevue Museum ArtsFair Bellevue, (Seattle) Washington, juried show, July, 2008, 2013 

“Vanishings – a Pictorial Narrative of an Endangered Earth” Hospice Savannah Art Gallery,1352 Eisenhower Dr., Savannah, solo exhibition July – August 2007

“The Architecture of Nature” solo exhibition November – December 2006, Off the Wall Gallery at 45 Bistro, Marshall House Hotel, 123 East Broughton Street, Savannah

“Low Country Treks and Monkey John Trails, the Art of Found Wood and Recycled Trees", new works by Kurt Hupe and Laura W. Adams, Jewish Educational Alliance, 5111 Abercorn Street, Savannah, GA, April 2005

“Nantahala” solo exhibition, Gallery Espresso, 232 Bull Street, Savannah, GA, November 11- December 2, 2004

“Panthertown, Interpretations of a Southern Rain Forest” The Starlander Coffeehouse and Gallery, 11 E. 41st St., Savannah, GA, solo exhibition, January 30-February 27, 2004

“Nature’s Mosaics” solo exhibition Hospice Savannah, Savannah, GA, October 2001 

“Appalachian Spring, Wildflower Interpretations” Th’ Barn Restaurant and Gift Shop, Cashiers,NC, solo exhibition July 2001

Virginia Highlands Summerfest Juried Exhibition, June 2006, 2001, 2000, 1999, Atlanta, GA. First place, Photography, 1999

Artworks Juried Exhibition, April 2000, 1999, 1998, Jacksonville, FL 

Artscape Juried Exhibition, May 2000, Raleigh, NC

"Two Artists, Two Impressions” works of Laura W. Adams and Diane Hull, May 2000, “Possessed by Art,” 1997 group show, “Garden Art,” 1997 group show, Bothwell Gallery, Savannah, GA, 1995-2001, exhibiting artist

“Natural Worlds” group exhibition, Marty Whaley Adams Gallery, Charleston, SC, August, 1996 

Coastal Group Sierra Club Photography Exhibition, Savannah, GA, 3d place award, October1996

Gallery representations

The Sportsman’s Gallery & Paderewski Fine Art, 165 King Street, Charleston, SC, (843) 727- 1224, and at 3706 Hillsboro Pike, Suite B in Nashville, TN and at 158 Plaza, Beaver Creek, CO, www.sportsmansgallery.com, www.paderewskifineart.com, currently exhibiting in these gallery spaces since 2013

Brickworks Gallery and Laura W. Adams Studio, 686-A Greenwood Avenue, NE, in the B. Mifflin Hood Brick Co. building, Atlanta, GA,(912) 596-3147, www.brickworksgallery.com, www.laurawadams.com, currently exhibiting in this gallery since 2016

An American Craftsman Gallery, Sheraton Manhattan Hotel, 790 7th Avenue, corner 52nd Street New York, NY (212) 399-2555; Rockefeller Center 60 West 50th Street, New York, NY (212) 307-7161; 36 Main Street, Stockbridge Massachusetts 01262 (413) 298-0175; 223 West Broughton Street, Savannah, Georgia 31401, exhibiting artist 2005-2013, now exhibiting at 22 Walker Street, Lenox, MA, since June 2021

M Contemporary Gallery, 614 Julia Street, New Orleans, LA, exhibiting since December 2020

Mystic Osprey Gallery, 23B Market #1, Habersham Marketplace, Beaufort, SC, exhibiting since May 2021

T. Clifton Art, 2751 Broad Avenue, Memphis, Tennessee, (901) 323-2787, exhibiting artist 2014- 2016

Ann Jacob Gallery, Main Street, Highlands, North Carolina, exhibiting artist 2004 - 2013 

Catherine Kelleghan Gallery, 309 East Paces Ferry Road, Suite 130 - Aaron Building, Atlanta,Georgia, exhibiting artist 2006 - 2013

Gallery 209, River Street, Savannah, GA, exhibiting artist 2006

The Gallery, 20 Jefferson St., City Market, Savannah, GA, partner in gallery March, 2002 - April, 2008

Pluff Mudd Gallery, Calhoun Street, Bluffton, SC, exhibiting artist 2003-2006    

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686A Greenwood Avenue NE
B Mifflin Hood Brick Co building
Atlanta, GA 30306
USA

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686A Greenwood Avenue NE
B Mifflin Hood Brick Co building
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USA
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