Laura Jean McLaughlin works primarily with clay but is also a printmaker, painter and multimedia artist. She makes unique figures and beings out of her signature style, no matter what medium she decides to use. At age 58, she’s been in Pittsburgh for 48 years — aside from attending undergraduate and graduate school (seven years) and working in a medical laboratory in Chapel Hill, North Carolina (three years).
A professional artist for more than three decades, McLaughlin’s been showing her work for about a year with Brenda Friday at her interior artistry store Shoppe B. She has found Friday to be incredibly supportive of her and her creations — on both a professional and personal level.
“One of the biggest pieces of mine that Brenda sold was to the Emmy award-winning actor Colman Domingo,” McLaughlin reveals.
McLaughlin finds Pittsburgh an incredible place to be an artist. “It is inexpensive to live here, and the arts community is very supportive.” She only wishes that the city had more local collectors. Otherwise, “there are tons of joys and perks like a very vibrant community of artists supporting each other.”
Read our article about Shoppe B and Brenda Friday to learn more about local artists Rachael Ryan, Isaac Bower, Philip Soucy, Mia Tarducci, and Andrew Jowdy Collins.
Story by Corinne Whiting
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