Laurie Schirmer Carpenter



Laurie Schirmer Carpenter grew up in northwestern Illinois and graduated from Loretto Heights College in Denver, Colorado with a BA in English Literature in 1967. She later enrolled in the University of Colorado, Denver to study art, graduating With Distinction, with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree and a BA in Art History in 1988. She has been painting full time since then. After 27 years in Denver, her husband was transferred to Ann Arbor, Michigan in 1990 where she became reacquainted with her Midwestern roots, finding inspiration in the distinctive atmosphere of the landscapes and skies of the heartland. Moving to northwestern Indiana in 2006, she continues to paint the land and skies of the Midwest.
The oil paintings are based upon on-site sketches, plein air paintings, photographs and, most importantly, memory. They are created in the studio with many layers of thinly applied paint over weeks and/or months. They may be a composite of several places or, wholly or in part, the result of her imagination. They depict a liminal moment in time; a time “between” an anticipated action and a reaction in Nature. These interludes may be perceived as peaceful, quiet moments of contemplation or subtle warnings of things to come. Presently finding ourselves in a transitional moment in our world, the paintings become studies in mindfulness of the essence of our planet.