Laura Haviland; Guest Artist of the Month.....April

I love Blogging! There are many reasons why I do but the #1 reason is the wonderful connections I've made and am still making through the art of Blogging. And; I do believe that Blogging is an art! I could go on and on about how I feel about Blogging but this post is not about me.

For those of you who do not know of Laura Haviland and her art, I'd like to introduce you to her. Laura and I had one of those "instant connections" through our mutual admiration for our art and words and we keep, in touch, as we can and I just adore Laura's enthusiasm for her artwork and what it means to her. I happen to think she has a magical way of bringing art dolls to life.

Laura has a lovely Blog

The name of her Blog is Creative Whispers which I think is amazing and if you read her introduction, here, I think you'll see how she came about choosing the name. :)

I highly recommend checking it out to scroll through her Blog and you will see what I see; wonderful art dolls with stories that relate to her inspiration. So; without further ado, I'd like to introduce you to the amazing Laura Haviland:

M-Laura; first I'd like to say how honored I am for the opportunity to interview you and have you as April's Guest Artist of the Month. Thank you! Please give us a little background info. on yourself and when and how your art journey began.
L-My name is Laura Haviland. I am a Mixed-Media Artist. Creating artwork is a big part of who I am. I live a very quiet life in the province of Ontario, Canada. I am the wife of a hard-working seventh generation farmer, mother of two wonderful teenagers, and, I have two adventurous bengal cats. Before I met my husband, I lived in Toronto, ON. I really enjoyed my career, it was another form of creating art. The Estee Lauder customers clean faces were my art canvas to create upon. I loved my job, it was a great challenge everyday. Life is always changing and it was time to move from the big city. I met my farmer husband and moved to the country. It was an excellent place to start a family. Ever since I was a little girl, I have enjoyed creating different kinds of art. I used to sketch odd cartoon characters. Some years after, I was married, I had to have back surgery. While I was recovering from the surgery, my husband suggested that I take a tole painting class to help the use of my fine motor skills to return in my hands. I was immediately thrilled with this new painting hobby and it was a success. I tole painted for many years but there were new little whispers entering into my art thoughts. I was thinking of trying this new art called stamping, creating traditional homemade cards. Then you can guess what happened; I was hooked on rubber stamping. It was just the beginning of becoming a loosey-goosey artist rather than a pantie folder artist that stays within the lines.

M-If you had to choose three words to describe your artistic style, what would they be?
L-To describe my art style, I will need to use four words: "out of the box".

M-You seem to really enjoy art dolls. Has this always been? I know every time I see them, on your Blog, they just come alive for me. That takes a lot of creativity and talent to do that.
L-I did not start out creating Art Dolls in the beginning. Back in the year 2002, I was shopping at our local stamping supply store. Unfortunately, due to health reasons the store is now closed; it was a lot of fun. The owner of the store would share her magazines and let you sign them out to take home. I had no idea that day shopping at this store, change was in the air. I opened a magazine called "The Stampers Sampler". Well; I came to a page with a featured Mixed-Media artist Catherine Moore. I had never seen unique art work like hers; they were these funky art dolls, too. The unusual art dolls were wearing corsets and boots. I thought to myself, this is the kind of art style where I will fit in well (no rules-LOL!). I enjoy all different mixed media art but, art dolls are my first passion.

M-I see you are on the Design Team for Catherine Moore.
How did this come about for you? Your creative mind and spirit seem to be a wonderful marriage with Catherine's rubber stamp line.
L-Thank you, Marilyn, I appreciate your lovely comments. I received an email from Catherine inviting me to be a part of her Design Team. It comes so easy to create with Catherine's unique art stamp collection. I have been an admirer of her art stamps and an avid collector.

M-What gives you inspiration for your art dolls? Is it the rubber stamps, themselves, or do they call to your inner child? I notice, on your Blog, you seem to always have a story with your dolls and I find it fascinating.
L-My inspiration comes from so many creative ideas in my surrounding environment. I am often told I have a huge imagination (this makes me giggle). I am so inspired by nature on my daily walk, artwork in "Stampington Magazine" and follow artists' fabulous blogs. I love using the colors of the ocean in my art work and sometimes very bold colors depending on my mood. The rubber stamps do call to my inner child, that is, for sure. I will never grow up and enjoy childrens' fairytales very much. Every art doll I created seems to have its own little personality and they all tell their own story when completed. I try to give them all a uniqueness with a different theme and I create them from that visual idea.

M-You have a lovely Blog, called Creative Whispers, which I've linked above. You have many followers, which is not surprising, and I, for one, am a HUGE fan! Do you enjoy Blogging and what are some of the benefits you've gained from the activity?
L-I truly enjoy Blogging; it is so rewarding in many ways. At first I did not feel ready to create my Blog. It was a big step for me. A very dear and best friend, of mine, from Ontario, suggested it was time to create a Blog so I agreed. I can never thank my friend enough for helping me and my computer savvy daughter. My daughter goes off to school in the Fall, so she will not be here to help me with computer questions. I am very happy for my daughter; a new door is opening in her life. Anyway; I had no idea how fun creating a blog would be. It has been a completely positive experience in so many surprising ways. I have made so many incredible and talented friends. It is such a delight sharing a little piece of yourself through your art work. I can't say thank you enough for all the thoughtful and kind comments that are left to read on my blog. They are all so special, to me, and I love reading everyone of them. They give me the biggest smile on my face when I receive them and make me want to try harder to challenge myself to grow as an artist on my creative journey.

I enjoy visiting all of your blogs, there are so many talented artists among us. With that thought on my mind and speaking of talented artists, I want to say a big thank you to the awesome Marilyn Rock for this wonderful opportunity. I feel so blessed to have such a dear friend and her name truly says it all..."she rocks". Thank you again lovely Marilyn................Hugs, Laura xxoo

M-Thank you for your words; you are so kind and we truly share the same feelings about each other. Thank you SO much for this interview and it was a pleasure to have you here as a guest artist on my Blog. I do hope everyone will pay a visit to your Blog to see your creative art dolls that come alive with your creative talents!

End of interview.

I am wishing everyone a wonderful weekend ahead; our weather, here, is supposed to turn warm and sunny! It will be so welcome from the past three days of gray and rain. My heart goes out to the people in Rhode Island for suffering through terrible flooding; I am hoping things will improve there over the next few days. Keeping positive thoughts.

Much love to all! -Marilyn xxoo