Creating Joy through Art

Wrentham artist Laurie Sammons has been creating her whole life.
“I wanted to be an artist from the time I was young,” said Sammons. Although she works in the medical imaging field, she has always made time for her art. With an emphasis on drawing and painting, she has designed artwork for businesses, and dabbled in calligraphy on the side. About twenty years ago, she even designed a series of postage stamps for Mongolia. Her evolution as an artist, she says, has been a spontaneous journey.
“I don’t necessarily spend a lot of time plotting out a plan for myself,” she said. “I am open to what comes across my path and then I go with it.”
About six years ago, Sammons took a class in pastel painting and became hooked.
“I think it’s an interesting medium. I think pastels work well for someone who has been doing a lot of drawing,” she explained. “You can really create some amazing colors with pastels and visually I love the way they look.”
Sammons says her inspiration comes from what she sees in her daily life, and is drawn to themes that evoke an emotion. She enjoys creating landscapes and street scenes, as well as capturing everyday moments, including humorous ones.
She has also painted animals, and several scenes of Stony Brook Wildlife Sanctuary in Norfolk, where she and her husband were married. “It’s very dear to our hearts,” she said.
Her favorite works, though, are depictions of the Hudson Valley in New York, where she has family. The mountain and farmland scenery, she says, has inspired several of her paintings.
Sammons is active in the Foxboro Art Association, where she currently serves as secretary. She says she and some of the other artists are committed to more plein air painting, the French expression for “in the open air.” Plein air painting is perhaps best exemplified by the French impressionists, who sought to paint light and its constantly changing qualities.
Painting for others, both through commission and as gifts, has given Sammons great pleasure. She tells of painting a picture of her father-in-law’s former home and presenting him with the gift late in his life, while he was residing in an independent living facility.
“He loved that painting so much and it gave me so much joy to see how much he enjoyed having that memory hanging on his wall,” she shared. “I think when you can create something for somebody else and spark that joy in them, that’s a wonderful thing you get for yourself from art.”
Most artists speak of the innate need to create and how they are driven to express themselves through their art. Sammons concurs.
“The art is more than relaxing or more than just a pastime,” she observed. “It’s definitely an outlet for the things I’m seeing and the things I’m thinking. It’s a need I have to look for the things that are beautiful in life or the things that create joy or the things that are inspirational.”
The dark side of life, the difficult times, added Sammons, is an added impetus to search for beauty through art.
“I definitely have to practice looking for the beauty in life, and the joyful side of life. That really helps me. And I think that’s one reason artists create art and share it. They hope to inspire others to feel that kind of joy.”
Sammons’ work will be on display at Wrentham’s Arts on the Common on June 3, as well as at the Artist Studio and Gallery at Patriot Place in late June. Her work also hangs at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, where she works.