Life and Work with Lori Reeves

Today we’d like to introduce you to Lori Reeves.

Thanks for sharing your story with us Lori. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
The idea that my inspiration, creative expression, and abstract art could become a business stemmed from me following a relentless internal nudge. I always loved and produced art to some capacity while growing up. I was exposed to beautiful works of art in the home I grew up in, as my parents were contemporary collectors. Following a degree in Communications and taking only art classes on the side (as I didn’t even consider it possible to have a career with art), I ultimately went back to school for my master’s degree in-depth psychology. Through my own personal healing work, I was exposed to expressive arts therapy, which I found to be profoundly eye-opening, empowering and informative of my inner happenings. This combination of depth work and creativity rang loudly within me. The power of images as creative expressions and the collective psyche paralleled with my internal significance and spiritual nature… it all grabbed me and has never let go. This passion for image, expression, and the spiritual and healing powers of art continued to develop professionally, and eventually, my need to purge much of what was within became what felt like an internal must. I was mothering my first child when I would stay up nights late painting behind closed doors as an outlet and form for sorting through, finding meaning, healing, and expression… and I haven’t stopped painting since. I have no formal training; rather, I have worked with professional artists, taken classes and workshops, and taught myself along the way.

Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
A smooth road, it has not been. However, it has been a road I cannot seem to resist as challenging as it is at times. Being an artist is hard enough, much less trying to run a business. Making a living creating art while being a full-time Mom of two young children certainly spreads energies and focuses in many different directions. The process of producing art is a deep, soulful experience that requires making the time and space for what ultimately becomes an organic method that is connected with Spirit. I feel when I’m in flow that I am only a conduit, as though something is moving through me, as though I am a co-creator. I know my paintings are complete by an inner feeling of the images reflecting something within that feels right and absolute. My process is very intuitive and time is taken to “allow” for the unfolding, which cannot be rushed –the struggle of time- this is my greatest challenge. My advice to other women artists with children (and to myself), is to continue putting one foot in front of the other, keep believing, and hold near those that believe in you and your purpose.

Please tell us about Lori Landry Art.
I am an abstract artist, expressive arts therapist, and yoga instructor. My primary emphasis is art creation and facilitating others to express creatively. I am producing a series of classes for children, tweens & parents that combine yoga, mindfulness, and creative expression. I am always striving for a balance between my own abstract painting and creative expression, while at the same time connecting with designers on projects and private art collectors. I have enjoyed doing unique commissions, as they require exploring the feelings and moods clients desire to evoke in the space, then pairing those with a specifically created art piece. I have also worked with others in “co-creation” of art pieces. In other words, before I begin painting, I have had clients journal their intentions on the canvas (rather than myself, as I typically do) so their heart and soul are a part of the final creation. Following an in-depth discussion of what colors, patterns, textures, and moods reflect what they want me to capture, I will then create from that space.

What advice would you give to someone at the start of her career?
The most important piece of advice I can give to a young woman just starting her career is to take time to tune in and listen to her inner being, then to honor and trust those messages.