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Laura Harris- Mosaic Artist www.melonheadgallery.com
Laura Harris was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin in 1961. She is the daughter of the late Midwest sculptor/painter, Walter Lenz. Laura has been working in mixed media, including fiber art, acrylic art and mosaic art for over 25 years. More recently, Laura has concentrated on mosaic portrait art. She uses a direct method of application whereas each piece of tesserae is permanently adhered to a substrate. After sketching out a design, each individual piece of tesserae is hand cut to create unique mosaics. Her tesserae include venetian and dichroic glass, 24 Kt. Italian gold smalti, porcelain, ceramic tile, mirror, stone and salvaged or recycled materials. Laura’s work has been compared to some of the great European mosaic artists of the 21st century.
Laura’s work is on exhibit at Eggert’s Fine Art Gallery, North Lake,Wisconsin and at Landmarks Fine Art Gallery, Wauwatosa, Wisconsin. Laura has been selected as one of only four artists from the state of Wisconsin to be a featured artist on “Channel 10 Great TV Auction “ for 2007.
Laura's career was not limited to the field of art. Laura graduated summa cum laude from UWM-Milwaukee with a master's degree in 1985. She worked as a speech-language pathologist for over 15 years and was recognized in 1998 as one of the top 5 teachers in Wisconsin for her efforts in the field of Assistive Technology and voted New Berlin Public School Teacher of the Year in 2001. Laura has now retired from her teaching career to pursue her art full-time.
Although handicapped with MS, first diagnosed in 1985, Laura has risen above her physical limitations to create fine art mosaic pieces that encapsulate the heart and soul of the subject matter.
Laura was a featured artist on Channel 10-Great TV Auction in 2007 and on the program, Artist to Artist. Laura was honored with “Best in Show” in the 2007 Watertown Fine Arts Festival, an “Award of Excellence” at the 2007 Artarama’s Riverwalk Art Show in Eagle River. She was also awarded “Best in Show” as well as “Best in 2-D Mixed Media “ at the 2007 Festival of the Arts at Fowler Park. Laura has also been featured in numerous magazines and newspapers.

“Today, the world can appear fragmented and its people disconnected, mosaics allow me to fuse the pieces together to create something cohesive and beautiful , what I wish the world could be.” --Laura Harris
e-mail: LauraHarris@centurytel.net