Plein air artist Lili Anne Laurin has an impassioned preference for painting out in the elements of nature. Since moving to Arizona from New Jersey 7 years ago, she has trained her eye on capturing the light and color of the desert. Having painted the more intimate landscapes of the Garden State for more than a decade, it was an adjustment to take in the vastness of the skies and the sparse yet beautiful desert vegetation of the Copper State.
Her desert paintings often reflect the glow of the dramatic sunrises and sunsets that are iconic to the Arizona landscape. It is not unusual for Laurin to get up at 4:00 in the morning to be set up and painting when the sun rises over the Superstitions. She also makes several yearly excursions to paint at the Grand Canyon, which is one of the most complex, challenging scenes to distill onto a canvas.
In November, 2018 the artist garnered the prestigious Purchase Award at the American Women Artists’ national juried Exhibition for “Lees Ferry Landing”, an almost dreamlike interpretation of a peaceful section of the Colorado River in the Glen Canyon Recreational area. This work now hangs at the Tucson Desert Art Museum as part of its permanent collection. She has been juried into many prestigious national shows: Oil Painters of American National, Eastern and Western shows, American Impressionism show, Women Artists of the West National Show, and has won many awards, including three “Jurors’ Top Sixty” awards and an Honorable Mention for “Pastoral Longhorn” awarded by the illustrious Max Ginsberg at the Salon International.
Her work was recently juried into the American Women Artists online exhibit and she was given an Award of Merit at the 2022 NOAPS Online Exhibit.
She has juried Memberships in:
Oil Painters of America
American Impressionist Society
American Women Artists
National Oil and Acrylic Painters Society
September 2022
