Tell us a bit about yourself Name : Laura
Location: Toms River, NJ USA
Handmade Specialties: Original Paintings on Canvas, Custom Commissions, Digital Art /Graphic Design, Art Jewelry Images, Fine Art Prints
What makes you became an artist?
Laura’s Story…
My interest in art began as a child. I was born with a love for animals and a passion for painting. Having come from a broken home and having a lot of free time at a young age, I developed my very own art skills through experimenting with crayons and finger paints. This eventually took me down the road of art and before I knew it, I was stopping at the art store on my way home from school and found myself buying new colored pencil packs and sketchbooks with my lunch money.
My complete adoration and love for animals developed from my relationship that I had with our family dog. I found enjoyment in his facial expressions and funny antics. I believe these experiences molded me in the direction of animals and a true love for painting them. My art grew more and more with each passing day. In high school my favorite pastime was doodling and eventually I doodled my way into an art class. I started a home business when I was 16 which was all about capturing people’s favorite photos onto sweatshirts and sold them at a fair price to many students and their family members. I was making a decent living at a young age with nothing more than a few bottles of fabric paint an airbrush and a pack of generic sweatshirts. As time went on, I started painting wall murals and experimenting with different media. After accomplishing more pieces, I grew as an artist. The traits and techniques I developed as a child actually create the anchor that my creativity rests upon today. It seems that each year I became more free with my ideas and techniques.
When did you start selling at ETSY?
I started selling my original paintings on etsy in October of 2008. I now have over 300 sales, 1347 shop hearts and 157-100% positive feedbacks
My Painting Entitled: Model was spotted on Etsy and was chosen for HGTV’s new show: Battle on The Block and will be featured in an upcoming episode in April of 2010 the West Orange NJ Show.
What is your favourite product from your shop and why?
My favorite product from my shop is Venom - a 24 x 36" original palette knife painting on canvas. It was so much fun to create and I love painting from my mind instead of planning out what I am going to do. Venom was created with a palette knife and 3D texture.
How do you promote your work?
I promote my work anyway I can. Handing out business cards at craft fairs, using social networks to exchange links and meet new people, joining free art sites, becoming a member at the most popular brick and mortar galleries and my blog has been very important for bringing in new clients and entertaining die hard fans.
Where else can we find your products other than ETSY?
Other Places to Buy Laura Barbosa’s Art:Discovered Artists, Etsy, Yessy, Absolute Arts, D’ART, Artfire, Fine Art America, Artflock, Art.com, Allposters, Imagekind and more
