“I am an artist all the time; looking intently at whatever passes through my field of vision.”
​
Born in Baltimore, Beckie Laughlin is an award-winning artist now living in Frederick County, Maryland. She has a B.A. in Art and a M.F.A. in Painting from American University in Washington, DC. For the past 50 years, Ms. Laughlin has shown and sold her work extensively in group and one-person shows throughout the DMV, and in New York City and Chicago. Her artwork is included in many private and corporate collections including the Educational Testing Service in Princeton, New Jersey. Laughlin was an Adjunct Professor in the Department of Contemporary Art and Theater at Shepherd University in Shepherdstown, West Virginia for several years. She now teaches Spontaneous Painting in her New Market, Maryland studio.
Laughlin’s colorful and energetic large abstract canvases are inspired by her memories of the natural world - memories she only is aware of after the painting is completed. She begins her paintings without knowing where the destination will be; and relies on her intuition to make color and design choices. Beckie applies acrylic paint quickly in a variety of ways: using large brushes and scrapers, her fingers, flinging it, even squeezing it directly from the tube. Resulting images from the natural world are suggested: budding flowers, birds in flight, water currents, tangled tree branches, partial figures.
​
Ms. Laughlin offers a totally unique and original abstracted expression of the natural world. Her originality occurs partially because she constantly challenges herself to become a stronger painter by investigating and trying new painting approaches, techniques, and materials. Her paintings furthermore stand apart because of the viewing time needed to really see and experience her work; to see how she skillfully uses the Language of Art – color, value, texture and line – to guide the viewer’s eye on a ride throughout the canvas; and to experience the often unidentifiable emotional expression coming through the painting.
​
“I love to paint! When I paint, I am focused in the present moment, and I feel completely alive, energized, and full of joy - an experience the viewer is invited to participate in when viewing my work”.