Laura Brown Breetvelt was born in the Northern mining town of Elliot Lake, Ontario. Elliot Lake has been and continues to be home to an active art community. Her mother is an artist at heart. Her father is a lawyer, and both are avid supporters of the arts;
" My parents would have Artists over for dinner often, " says L. B. Breetbelt and " I definitely feel that growing up in such an environment served to nourish my creative expression and ultimate occupation. "
With the moral support of her parents she studied Fine Arts at the University of Mount Allison and Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario. Since finishing formal studies in 1983, she has successfully continued to express the fundamental aspects of art. Which she feels is mainly concerned with the extension of perception; " I think the ego at some time yearns for confirmation or understanding of it' origins, destination, and the reason for its' own existance. I wanted a physical outlet for my inner realizations. Having watched my mother with her art, it seemed natural for me to express myself visually. "
Laura Brown Breetvelt feels deeply about the power of art, and its' ability to provoke the subconcious which she feels houses information not attainable by strict intellectual means; " You could say I'm involved in the spiritualization of matter and materialization of the spirit. In looking at an object as an art form, at best I must engage in the letting go of self, becomming the object in all its' fullness, it is only then that I'll succeed in penetrating the spirit of myself, the spirit of the subject and our shared raison d'etre. "
The radiant energy, luminosity of colour in each of her paintings and the expression of real life in her sculptures bears wittness to her personal beliefs on life; " I believe in the akaskec record; where enduring traces of all events that have ever happened including every thought, every idea and very emotion are preserved in the astral light. Therefore each of us has a responsibility to ourselves and to the world at large, to think generate and produce in as positive a manner as is possible. This is not to say that I distain criticism. Works that aim to express human errors are needed and wholeheartedly endorsed. However I would deflate all productions of a wholly egregious nature. Shock for shock sake. Those energy revirberations can only be harmful to societies. "
L. B. Breetvelt has traveled Canada coast to coast, as well she has traveled throughout the United States and Europe; absorbing art, culture, and environment unique to each country. She has had solo or group exhibitions almost every year since 1986 and has received support from the Ministere des Affaires Culturelles du Quebec. Her works have been featured in Art publications and can be found in public and private collections across Canada and the United States.
Laura Brown Breetvelt presently lives in Val d'Or , Quebec with her husband and two children.
Click on a picture below to see some of Laura's other works
