LAURA J. LEIDEN

Artist Statement

Color and the human form have been my areas of art exploration. I find color exhilarating and the human form both visually interesting and great at storytelling. My focus lately has been about women and how they interact with each other and the world. To create the quilt I first paint using alcohol inks, because of their intense colors and magical way of “blooming” when they dry. Then I have the paintings enlarged and printed on fabric. After I mount the fabric on batting, I free-motion quilt the image, which allows me to add detailed drawings.

RESUME

Solo Exhibitions

2004 Gallery, Sautee-Nacoochee Community Center, Georgia
2000 Windows of the Soul, Altama Museum of Art and History, Vidalia, Georgia
2000 Prisms of the Soul, Tate Student Center Gallery, University of Georgia, Athens GA

Juried Exhibitions

2023 National Spring Quilt Competition, Quiltfest Greenville, SC
2023 Fiber Artist Invitational, Sautee Nacoochee Community Center, GA
2023, 2022 Southworks- Juried National Exhibition Oconee Cultural Arts Foundation, Watkinsville, GA
2023, 2022 48^th Annual Lyndon House Juried Art Exhibition, Athens, GA
2003 What’s In a Pretty Face? Sanford Community College Gallery, Sanford, Florida
2001 Prisms of Life, Jacqueline Casey Hudgens Center for the Arts, Duluth, Georgia
2001 Inner Vision, The American Center, Nashville, Tennessee
1999 Luminous Reflections: Painting, Glass and Steel, Oconee Cultural Arts Foundation, Watkinsville, GA
1980 “Fifth Annual Curator’s Choice Exhibition” Award exhibition, Greenville Museum of Art, SC
1979 Art In Miniature, Columbia Museums of Art and Science, Columbia, SC
1978 Piedmont Graphics Juried Competition, Greenville Museum of Art, Greenville, South Carolina.
1978 Biennial Exhibition of Piedmont Crafts, Mint Museum of Art, Charlotte, North Carolina.

International Exhibitions

2006 The Travelling Wave: Artists for Peace and Dialogue, Alliston, Canada
2006 The Travelling Wave: Artists for Peace and Dialogue, Alliston, Canada
2004 The Travelling Wave: Artists for Peace and Dialogue, Castello Svevo, Porto Recanati, Italy
2004 Artistic Committee Exhibition, Museum of Fine Arts, Arad, Romania
2003 Biennale Internazionale dell’Arte Contemporanea di Firenze, Invitational Exhibition, Florence, Italy

Juror

2005 Biennale Arad, International Artistic Committee, Arad, Romania

Awards & Honors

2023- Ed Lambert Textile Merit Award, 48^th Lyndon House Juried Art Exhibition, Athens GA
1997 Print of the Year Award, Selected by Education Foundation of Oconee County, Watkinsville, GA
1979 Open Media Award, Greenville Artist Guild Exhibition, Greenville Museum of Art, SC
1978 Fulbright Art Scholar, Studied Flemish Art in Belgium and the Netherlands

Teaching & Calligrapher

1984 Calligraphy instructor, University of Georgia, Athens, GA
1998, 1999 Calligraphy instructor, Furman University, Traveler’s Rest, SC
1980-2010 President and Designer for Laura Leiden Calligraphy, Inc.
1974-1980 High School Art Teacher, Greer High School, SC Federally Funded Experimental Schools Project