Laura Stuart is a mixed media artist originally from Volant, PA.  She currently lives in Pittsburgh where she facilitates Studio Forget-Me-Not!  Laura studied Visual Communications at both The Art Institute of Pittsburgh and Westminster College where she received a Bachelor's degree in Visual Arts Communications. She later went to Carlow University for an Art Education degree/certification. She has taught art within a variety of educational and therapeutic environments that include: teaching art  to children with special needs through a counseling agency, teaching art within elementary and secondary education schools, and teaching art to adults with intellectual disabilities through a number of service providers. 

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Laura is also a practicing artist and has worked with a plethora of materials since she was a child. Her mother is an artist and she greatly influenced Laura's early love of the visual arts. At a young age, Laura's mother introduced her to sewing, drawing, and painting. Both her grandmothers were very influential as well. "Grandma taught me how to make beads, jewelry, and rugs out of recycled bits and pieces. My Yiayia (Greek for Grandma) taught me an appreciation for spiritual art with an emphasis on Greek Orthodox and Byzantine iconography."  With those early influences, travel, education and an exploratory nature, her first love is the use of color and the spatial relationships of color mixed with pattern.