About The Artist
Hi, I’m Lawly! I am a Portland, Oregon based artist who makes murals and mosaic installations. My artwork transforms and enlivens homes and commercial spaces.
I live in a community house which I am slowly bedazzling from top to bottom with my colorful tile work and whole-room murals. It gives me great satisfaction to turn an ordinary room or surface into a delightful experience of colors, whimsy, and surprising perspectives. I’d love to bedazzle your house or business, too!
My biggest inspirations are the feelings of intrigue, discovery, being playfully disoriented and amusingly lost. In my artwork you’ll find scenes best viewed up-side-down, doors you can’t open, non-doors you can open, portals to other realms, and hidden gems. Rather than depicting characters in a story, I use my artwork to create exciting and unusual environments to be explored and played in by you, the main character in your own magical story.
I am in love with stairs, doors, paths, and hallways. These transitional spaces give me the giddy feeling that something I really want to see is just out of sight or around the next corner. They are the spatial equivalents of holding a wrapped gift box and wondering what’s indside while basking in the unique pleasure of not knowing. My art aims to capture this peculiar mix of being present in a beautiful moment and feeling eager to find out what’s next.
Color, for me, contains a universe of potent emotion. It is important in my artwork and in my daily life. I have a whole closet shelf of different colored hats which I carefully select to wear based on my current mood and the type of energy I hope to feel in my day. As a kid, one of my hobbies was collecting paint chips from Home Depot, and my future dream job was naming the paint colors.
Growing up in the 90s, My Little Pony toys were highly influential in my discovery process about what color schemes I like and how those color combinations make me feel. To this day, much of my artwork incorporates a “Ponyland” color scheme of jewel tones and vivid pastels.
In a predictable land of cookie-cutter buildings and safely beige walls, it is my mission as an artist to create some colorful weirdness and wonder for those who seek out-of-the-ordinary experiences!
