Art in the Vineyard: Alan Laurie

EXHIBIT: Art in the Vineyard presents A Touch of Glass by Alan Laurie
DATE/TIME: Opening Reception - Sunday May 4 from 4-6pm
LOCATION: Bridgeview Winery, 4210 Holland Loop Road Cave Junction, OR 97523

The Southern Oregon Guild presents our second exhibition of 2025 at Art in the Vineyard  featuring the artwork of Guild Member Alan Laurie. This show will feature 21 original paintings from his series titled, "A Touch of Glass,"  which were completed in 2023.  Join us for the opening reception on Sunday May 4 from 4-6pm featuring musical ambiance by harpist George Leverett and a chance to meet Alan Laurie. Located at Bridgeview Winery's Tasting Room in Cave Junction, this collection will be on display from May 4 -June 15, 2025. Bridgeview is currently open 12-7pm Wednesday-Sunday, with hours subject to change during the upcoming spring months.

A native of Washington State, Alan Laurie spent some formative years as a child in Jamaica and eventually moved at the age of 5 to Baton Rouge, Louisiana where he lived for the next 27 years, graduating from Louisiana State University (LSU) with a degree in fine arts. He went on to learn skills of graphic design on his own, because it was not a course of study offered by LSU at that time. However, 13 years after graduating, Alan was invited back to his alma mater to develop and teach a course in Freshman Graphic Design as a guest instructor. He continued painting and participating in group shows as well as one man shows, to much acclaim. This eventually led to the three major television network stations that existed in Baton Rouge at that time, enlisting him as a freelance courtroom artist. 

As an offspring of the New Orleans Jazz Festival, limited edition serigraph poster craze at the time, other local festivals began holding contests for poster designs. Beginning with the first Baton Rouge Symphony poster design contest, Alan went on to win every poster contest he entered. The newspapers in Baton Rouge and Lafayette dubbed him "The Poster King of Louisiana. Some of these posters can be seen on his website at AlanLaurie.com. At the height of his career in Baton Rouge, which included acting in 14 plays over a 10-year period, Alan felt the need to broaden his horizons. He relocated to Los Angeles. There, his love for painting took a back seat to the immediate need to earn a living. Over the following 7 years, Alan's livelihood was derived from creating graphic designs for political campaign consulting firms.

Enticed by the more attractive life style of Seattle in his home state, Alan decided to relocate there and take a position as Chief Graphic Designer for a company specializing in products for the Alaska and Pacific Northwest tourist industries. After 6 years with that company, he felt it was time once again to broaden his horizons. He took a risk and left his steady paycheck and benefits to return to his first loves––painting and drawing. Soon, he was showing and selling paintings at Seattle Artists Gallery.

Alan moved to Takilma in the Illinois Valley in 2001 and continued to revive his painting and drawing skills through collaborative projects, solo exhibits, and designing logos for many local businesses. He became active with both the Illinois River Valley Arts Council and the Southern Oregon Guild. In 2002, Alan was invited to take part in the first Grants Pass BearFest. He participated in that project for 3 years straight. His "Cubist Cub” is on permanent display welcoming visitors into the Grants Pass Museum of Art. In addition, his “Pharaoh Bear and Cub Tut” bear sculptures, which he created for BearFest 2005 still grace the sidewalks of Grants Pass every summer. In 2012, Alan re-visited Baton Rouge to present a successful one man show of his series of Cubism paintings at Artvarrk Gallery.

In November of 2016, Alan arranged, under the auspice of the Illinois River Valley Arts Council, a one-man, one night “Pop-up” gallery show which featured paintings he had created over the previous two years. The show “Barnyard Beasts and Beauties” featured paintings of pastoral scenes in the surrounding Illinois Valley. The show was also a fundraiser for the newly birthed, and Cave Junction’s first, FM-LP radio station KXCJ, which was right next door to the art exhibit. In recent years, Alan continues to paint at his home studio, creating unique series of work featuring still-lifes, people, animals, and more. A collection of Alan's art can be viewed at the Guild Gallery & Art Center in Kerby, OR.