Laura Cooper

Born and raised on the bayou, Laura Cooper began life surrounded by water. Her childhood home was on the banks of the Vermilion River in Lafayette, Louisiana. She has fond memories of waking up in the middle of the night to distant rumbles of tugboats pushing barges from offshore rigs in the Gulf of Mexico. This early exposure to the maritime world has led her to pursue capturing the essence of sailing on canvas. Her work combines a unique relationship between atmosphere and light while maintaining a painterly feel.

After graduating from high school, Laura moved to Boston in to earn her degree in English from Northeastern University.  After a brief stint co-writing a column about computers she decided to go back to school and earned her Bachelor of Science in Nursing from Simmons College. Her first job as a nurse was at Boston Children’s Hospital in Cardiology.  She later worked at Boston City Hospital in Labor and Delivery. The whole time she was trying to establish herself, she was taking art classes. Working from life, plein air painting became a way to release stress. As time went on, it became apparent that all she wanted to do was paint. She began to take her art more seriously and sought out well-known Bostonian artists including Robert Cormier. Currently, she paints with marine artist, Richard Loud. Her accomplishments include the Emerging Artist Award in 2015, the Yachting Award in 2016, and the Thomas Hoyne Award in 2017, at the International Marine Art Exhibition in Mystic Seaport.  She is a Signature Member in the American Society of Marine Artists.