Facing Solitude by Laurel Eddlemon

Artist Lauryl Eddlemon says that her favorite thing to do is “throw paint, make a crazy mess, look at it, see what I see, and turn it into a portrait.” Her expressionistic, loose, and colorful portraits will be showcased in the exhibit “Facing Solitude”. 

Eddlemon’s paintings explore the paradox of solitude in an overstimulated world. She sees “alone-ness” not as a state of lack, but as a source of strength and serenity. Eddlemon is a transplanted Texan, having spent time in the Houston area and Austin, where she worked as Design Director for Southwest Arts Magazine for 12 years. During her time there, she said she had always admired the fine art painters the magazine featured and told herself that she’d paint one day. Five years ago, she dove into painting full time. “I’d always been someone who draws, especially drawing people. I enjoy exploring how we express emotion and how to convey feelings or a certain message through a human face,” she said. 

Her paintings are influenced by summers spent in Santa Fe and a deep connection to folk art and the vivid culture of the American Southwest. 

Eddlemon said she enjoys using a mix of media in addition to acrylic paint. “I love using unexpected colors and varied mark-making with a variety of media, including charcoal, oil sticks and inks in a loose, painterly manner,” she said. While many painters struggle with loosening up their painting style, Eddlemon said she often has to rein herself in. But like many artists, the paintings she loves the most are the ones she knows are going to be a problem. “I try not to fall in love with a painting too soon because it makes it harder to fix if you’re in love with it. Sometimes I think a painting is a masterpiece, and then the next time I look at it, I think it’s hideous. Then I can fix it,” she said. 

In addition to her love of painting, Eddlemon said she is in love with Tulsa because of the diversity and the openness of the arts community. “It doesn’t feel judgy at all,” she observed. A Texan since birth, she was reluctant to move to Oklahoma but after living here for a year, has found Tulsa to be like Austin was 25 years ago. “It’s refreshing to be back in a city that feels like a closeknit community,” she said.

Follow Lauryl:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lauryl.eddlemon.art/