We had the good fortune of connecting with Amy Laugesen and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Amy, what led you to pursuing a creative path professionally?

Creative self-expression has alway been my language. I struggled with the learning challenges of dyslexia at an early age. Art classes helped raise my self-confidence and celebrated my experiential non-traditional hands-on learning style.

My parents were very supportive of my art interest and when working along side my father in his home workshop, I developed my love for tools and building things out of a variety of materials. This may be the reason why I became a mixed media sculptor.

In High School I realized that I wanted to pursue a career in the arts and focused my studies on graphic design and illustration. In collage, with the guidance of several professors, I discovered that fine arts and mixed media sculpting was my life calling.

During my college years, my aunt Cynthia K. Sam began researching and archiving the life and art of my maternal great grandfather, New England sculptor Bela Lyon Pratt (1867-1917). My great grandfather studied at the Art Students League-New York, Yale School of Fine Art, and received his graduate degree from Harvard. He apprenticed under the accomplished Augustus St. Gaudens, and is credited with 180 significant sculptures, including a monument to Captain Nathan Hale located at Yale University; Alexander Hamilton in Grant Park, Chicago, IL; New Bedford Memorial Whaleman Statue, New Bedford, MA and two allegorical statues representing Science and Art at the Boston Public Library. He was also head of the Sculpture Department at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts Boston.

After receiving my Associates of Art Degree from Marymount Palos Verdes College in California, I moved to the East Coast to assist my aunt with her research on my great grandfather. This new chapter in my studies, also connected me with my artistic East Coast heritage and offered the opportunity to complete my BFA studies at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts Boston and Tufts University.

My career in the arts began while in Boston working at the 27 Tavern Road Sculpture and Casting Studio. I was an intern in the conservation lab at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts and apprenticed as an Outdoor Sculpture Maintenance Technician. I was also a studio assistant for New England sculptors Harries/ Héder Collaborative, Ralph Helmick, Joyce McDaniel and Ken Hruby.

Missing home and the Rocky Mountains, I returned to Denver, CO in fall of 1995 and have been actively cultivating my career as a mixed media sculptor and art educator for 30 years.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.

A quote by a dear friend and fan of my work best expresses in words the subtle nuances of my art ~

“Amy’s work invites the viewer to celebrate the paradox that is life. Each of her beautiful horses serve as a touchstone for all that remains unresolved in the human heart.  Through her artwork we are reminded that impermanence and imperfection are essential to everything. Her artful renderings appear to be both newly created and pulled from antiquity. She reminds us that our freedom, like horses running unbridled on an open plain, is to be found in the willingness to live each liminal moment, with tenderness and courage. ”

– Angelina Lloyd

I strive, with my mixed media sculptures, to capture the essence of the ancient, deeply rooted relationship between human and horse. Success to me is when someone connects to my work on a level that cannot be expressed in words. A place that evokes memories of relationships with horses, across time and space.

Ever widening orbits of connection are paramount to my life, perhaps more than ever before, I recognize how essential connections are to my personal and professional life. The connections to people, places and animals, historic and present, provide inspiration to my heart and art.

My tactile relationship with the earth medium of clay is part of my vocabulary as a sculptor. I welcome every opportunity to share my creative passion with artists of every age, but children are a particular joy to work with. I’m proud to admit that I have not outgrown “playing in the mud”.

The profession of being an artist is not an easy one. Often times I have to “dust myself off and get back on the horse”. It is a daily practice of trusting the creative process and embracing the unknown. I put my heart and soul in each sculpture I create. I feel vulnerable releasing my work out into the world full of critics. It takes a great deal of faith and confidence pursuing a career in the arts.

What I continue to learn, is that creativity is an organic process that ebbs and flows and to not hold on too tight; to relax and enjoy the “Ride” with calm confidence and perseverance.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.

I live in Crestone, Colorado, so my tour would include the mysterious and awe inspiring San Luis Valley, Great San Dunes National Park and Preserve, hikes in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains and Penitente Canyon Trails. After a day hike, we would soak in the near by hot springs. With my best friend, I would enjoy the opportunity to discover and explore places I have not been to before.

We would hang out, eat and relax at our home and watch the sunset from our deck overlooking the largest alpine valley in the world.

Four years ago, the Town of Crestone received International Dark Sky designation, so we will take the time to star gaze. There is nothing like viewing the Milky Way at an altitude of 8200 feet on the shoulders of 14,000 feet mountain peaks.

We would also enjoy a Ranchlands 3-night stay at The Nature Conservancy Medano-Zapata Ranch that includes horse back riding and incredible meals prepared with local foods.

We would catch a movie at the Frontier Drive-In. The tour would not be complete without a stop at the Colorado Gator Reptile Park and UFO Watch Towner.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?

I wish to dedicate this Shoutout to so many who love, support, encourage and inspire me on this creative path and life journey I am on.

Thank you Shoutout Colorado for this opportunity to share my story and I appreciate Jill Soukup, who I so admire, for connecting us to have this conversation.
Also, Gratitude To: Richard and Elisabeth Laugesen, parents; Cynthia K. Sam, aunt; My sisters and other family members; My friends, both 2-legged and 4-legged; Tic Tac, my childhood Quarter Horse companion and muse; Stephen Hume, husband and Maiya, daughter; Jean Sidinger, my third grade teacher; All my Art Teachers, Professors and Mentors over the years; Fellow Artists in this life time and those who came before me; Cynthia Madden Leitner and Museum of Outdoor Arts; Peter Durst and my Durst Studio Family of ceramic artists; Children’s Garden Montessori School; Silo Workshop, Select Welding, Richard Weldon and other fabricators who have helped me realize my vision; Grant Pound and Colorado Art Ranch; Tammie and Patrick Delaney, Diamond O Ranch in Hayden, CO; Ann Korologos Gallery; National Sculptors’ Guild; The ArtSol; Colleen Fanning Art Advisory; Ranchlands Family, who are promoting the conservation of rangelands, our ranching legacy, and quality of life for people living and working on ranches in the American West; Appreciators, Patrons and Collectors of my work.

Website: www.amylaugesen.com

Instagram: amylaugesen

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/amy.laugesen.9

Image Credits
All Photographs ©️A. Laugesen Studio Photographs by Stephen Hume
“Blue Mud Herd” sculpture photograph by Julia Mulligan

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