About
Laura Crane is an Australian horse and landscape artist, designer and conceptual creative. Trained as a graphic designer, with a background in brand development and painting for eighteen years, Laura now paints, designs and creates full-time from her home studio in Toowoomba and as she travels Australia and the globe.
Laura applies her creative across many different mediums on all aspects of creative projects to provide customised responses and solutions for commercial and private projects.
In her hart, Laura is deeply moved by beauty and the power it carries to affect people in a positive way, Laura works lightly to capture those fleeting moments of peace, joy, freedom and delight. Being very aware of the diametric state of the world, she aims to offer windows into idyllic, airy realms and refuges of beauty and calm.
Wholly inspired by traditional Chinese culture, Laura aims to encapsulate the spirit and life of horses, birds, trees and landscapes as simply and transparently as possible. She finds when she can achieve this, the work has movement, life and spirit.
Laura finds some of her purest work is created live-painting and painting en plein air where she can truly observe and experience the moment, and translate that sensation into imagery, as purely as possible.
Laura works with acrylics, watercolours, gouache and oils on paper, linen, canvas and poly cotton. Crane found her way to painting through sculpture, and looks forward to returning more regularly to the discipline when the time calls.
Laura’s work has been commissioned by Myer, the Victoria Race Club, Jumps Racing Australia, Urban Polo, Inglis, Equestrian Australia, Equestrian Queensland and she paints each Spring Carnival for the Waterhouse family. She has created custom wallpapers and murals and artworks for Rydges, Sofitel, Marriot, Melia and Park Hyatt hotels, has a signature wallpaper collection with architectural surfaces company Baresque, and recently completed a large collection of original artworks commissioned by hospitality visionary Ali Albwardy for his Melia Ngorongoro Crater Hotel, Tanzania.
Laura thoroughly enjoys Artist Residencies some of her most memorable being with Rowing Australia and The Cassidy Hotel Group ahead of the 2020 Olympics, La Palmeraie Polo Club, Morocco, and Melia Arusha & Serengeti and Park Hyatt Zanzibar, Tanzania. She has worked on numerous place-making projects, the latest being illuminated panels and laser-cut arbours for Miles Street-scape in Queensland, Australia. Laura works continuously on privately commissioned works. She has shown in 25 solo and joint exhibitions, her artworks are held in private collections both nationally and internationally, and she has live painted in Australia, Argentina, Spain, Morocco, the United States, Indonesia, Tanzania and the United Arab Emirates.
“I create to document and share the beauty I am blessed to feel.”
From the Artist
Growing up in sandhills and scrub, atop horses surrounded by vast Australian landscape, the raw beauty of nature etched into my heart early. Now I know natural beauty buoys me. It is my creative purpose to pass on that precious experience in the simplest way possible.
The spark of inspiration moves me wholly, and I never begin creating until my heart is alive with true inspiration from either one single moment or from immersing myself in a place or research. Then flows forth my purest creative.
I like to leave room for life in my works. I curate a scene when I translate my experience visually, allowing it to tell the tale of what in a moment or view speaks to me.
I touch on the concept of worlds within worlds in many of my pieces. I enjoy prompting contemplation on the size and import of each of us within the vast, boundless universe. I am moved by simplicity, the search of perfection within minimalism, and the uplift of changing colour values on white.
The power, grace and beauty of the presence of horses will always call forth my best. It is a delightful joy translating them and their excellence.
My wish for my art is to uplift and delight viewers. Walking a path of personal self cultivation, I have become aware of the impact visual imagery can have. Once observed, I felt a large responsibility to create works with a clear mind and whole heart that leave a positive impact on the viewer.
“Laura Crane (Douglas) was our ‘artist-in-residence’ in our box at the recent Melbourne Carnival. She was fabulous.
Laura did marvellous paintings for all our guests, which they are now treasuring.
“Laura painted the most magnificent picture to celebrate my horse, Fiorente’s, win. It is firmly above our mantelpiece. We adore it.
Thank you Laura. You are very talented.”
