This is Laurie Cox, our repoussé artist.
Bit-by-bit, tap-by-tap, hammer and chisel, coffee and rock music, a good dog keeping watch at her feet, and ducks outside ready to call out about anyone coming to her secret workshop to learn her high craft, and handfuls of gouji berries from the massive garden.
In designing these gorgeous works of art, Laurie imagines the total story she is trying to tell through the repoussé and sets out to create striking pieces that start to tell you that story from first sight and first touch. But she sets out to create surprise as well--details or aspects of the piece that you can only discover by looking closely. The result is works of art that are a joy to engage. The lucky client will find "easter eggs" hidden among the chisel lines.
Laurie C. was born in 1972 and spent her childhood years on ranches, farms and in the woods of Southern Oregon, where she developed a love of nature, both flora and fauna. Though her style is greatly influenced by a combination of Japanese prints, art nouveau sculpture, sci-fi and fantasy illustration, she is primarily a self-taught artist and draws much of her inspiration from her own dreams. She has dedicated many late nights to coaxing elaborate and subtle details and compositions out of a flat sheet of copper, that evoke a rich sense of life, light and movement. Within these worlds you may often find sea creatures posing as vehicles, industrious and mischievous insects and twisting plant life roaming through land, sea and space as they go about their business.
In addition to being a master coppersmith, gardener and chef, Laurie is part waterdog and likes to cool off in the hot summers in the clear Oregon rivers, as shown above in the genuine image of her genuine feet.