Laura Partsch

I am a retired writer/editor and I live in scenic northern New Mexico, USA, Land of Enchantment, wide vistas, and beautiful light. As a child I loved to draw and paint. My small high school did not offer classes in art, but my parents always made sure we had ample art supplies. In college I took Drawing 101 and an oil painting class for non-majors. My major was journalism with minors in French and English.

After graduation, I worked as a newspaper reporter for six years and then went to law school, graduating with a J.D. (cum laude) and subsequently working in the public sector and state government before returning to my preferred career in words. I wrote and edited in the fields of science, marketing, agriculture, pharmaceuticals, veterinary medicine, and insurance education. During this long career path, I was often making art on the side. I eventually gravitated to watercolor and painted commissioned portraits of people and pets. Two of my watercolor florals were part of a juried exhibit of the Chester County PA Art Association. On retiring and moving to New Mexico, I began taking photos of the magnificent landscapes surrounding me as well as the skies behind them. I chose pastels (self-taught) as my preferred means of expressing my vision of these vistas, and by 2018 had created enough works for a month-long solo exhibit at the Convento Gallery in Española, NM. My work was also available at the High Road Gallery in Truchas, NM, before the pandemic caused its closure. My pastel works include several triptychs and multi-panel pieces, and in the last year I have also enjoyed creating tiny art (trading-card and postcard-size) in watercolor, ink, pastels, and mixed media, as well as watercolor, paper collage, and acrylic holiday cards.