Artist Laura Dunn, of Mac + Lucille, is a contemporary artist from St. Simons Island, Georgia who wants all of her paintings to be three things: bright, bold, and full of depth. A fan of large-scale works on canvas, Laura draws her inspiration from nature, with a focus on florals and botanicals.Laura’s work centers on oversized blooms, where a single flower spreads across the entire canvas, and deconstructed botanicals, which represent interactions with a wide breadth of flora rather than a particular species.

As a child, Laura grew up inside commercial greenhouses, her family’s business. Her earliest memories are of flowers that she examined at eye level. Before she was able to take in the experience of an entire space filled with mums or poinsettias, Laura got to know flowers face-to-face. This perspective has stayed with her and is the reason she captures blooms and petals up close. The exhilaration of examining buds and blooms up close is imprinted in her memory. Laura brings them alive on her canvases because she knows the importance of letting seemingly small, even insignificant characteristics take up space and stake their claim in the world. She believes in celebrating what others may overlook and showing the strength and vibrancy of what others may see as delicate or merely decorative.

This message resonates with her collectors, and many have become repeat customers because Laura’s florals speak to them. Her work hangs in the homes of professionals who appreciate the constant reminder that no person is “too much” or “takes up too much space” or lacks the power to climb their chosen ladder. Instead of focusing on the delicate nature of flowers, Laura portrays them as strong and resilient.

If her florals are about presence, her deconstructed botanicals are about energy. Laura discovered the famed abstract painter Vassily Kandinsky at a young age. First drawn to his posters, Laura began to study his work and was blown away by how he connected color to sound. This resonated with her as she discovered her own connection with color and energetic waves. Pastels allow her to capture a calm, peaceful energy, whereas various shades of olive and ochre signify the groundedness Laura feels when stomping through the woods. Bold, clear colors show enthusiasm for a life pursuing her passions.

No matter what she is creating, Laura finds that she feels like her truest self when she paints and hopes that her work inspires others to share that version of themselves with the world.

Laura’s work has been shown at solo shows sponsored by the Glynn County Public Library, and she has been featured at the Little Green Door in Columbia, SC and Glynn Visual Arts on St. Simons Island, GA. In December 2021, she was a featured artist with The Pre•ten•tious Collector. Laura is also a member of the Untamed Square artist collective. To see more of her work, follow Laura on Instagram at @maclucille.