Laura Cramer (nee Rackard) grew up overlooking an unspoilt beach near Wexford in Southern Ireland. Although the surroundings were beautiful, she craved adventure and in 1987 moved to Denmark, where she studied Russian at the Slavic Institute of Copenhagen. In 1991 she travelled to the Soviet Union where the hopes of a new Russia were emerging. Over the following three years and through two coups d’etat, she had the good fortune to apprentice with three prominent artists in Moscow, developing a deep passion for painting.
Yuri Kononyenko’s ethereal work using water-based paints on paper provided her with a solid foundation in texture and experience of the human form. Evgeny Lanceray’s aristocratic charm rounded her perception of Russia with a classic approach to visual art. Finally Yuri Koval’s streetwise character unleashed a love of the cityscape (semi abstract oil on canvas) that dominates her work today. As a writer and painter, Koval led her to appreciate the poetic impact of the sky sending her out regularly onto the snowy streets of Moscow to sketch. Her ears still ring with his persistent instruction to “draw what you see, AND a little bit more….
Laura lives in Bristol with her husband and children and works as a full time painter.