Date: Fri 31-Jul-1998

Publication: Bee

Author: SHANNO

Quick Words:

Evans-Pawlikowski-Players

Full Text:

Living A Creative Life, Laura Evans Follows Many Paths

(with photos)

By June April

Laura Evans' life could be likened to a triptych. There are basically three

parts, or panels, to her life, yet it is still one picture. Whether wearing

the hat of artist, landscape designer or singer, this attractive woman

acknowledges that she gets a kick out of mastering whatever she attempts.

A Connecticut native, Laura was born in Bridgeport Hospital almost 40 years

ago. Her family lived in Trumbull until moving to Easton while Laura was in

the third grade. The youngest child of the family, Laura laughs when she says

its something she has in common with one of her favorite painters, Rembrandt.

"I always felt different from the other members of my family," Laura mused

recently, "though my father, who was an attorney, had a creative bent but

little time to act on it." Laura and her husband, who live in Newtown, now

share their "creative bent" occasionally as a team in productions at Newtown's

Little Theatre. Laura's life also follows a number of other paths.

It was during high school that Laura found the direction her life would take.

Art teacher Florence Nevelson became Laura's mentor and friend, underscoring

once again the influence fine teachers can have on one's life.

Flo encouraged the budding artist to take summer classes at Staples High

School in Westport with Jim Wheeler. Nevelson and Wheeler had both studied

under the sculptor Michael Skop, who would later prove to be a great influence

on Laura.

Upon graduation from Joel Barlow High School in Redding, Laura attended the

University of Connecticut's main campus, in Storrs. What she found there did

not suit her, so she decided to transfer to Northern Kentucky University. On

the faculty at NKU was one Michael Skop.

After graduating from Northern Kentucky with a bachelors degree in fine arts,

Laura began working closely with the then-retired Skop. Laura worked as Mr

Skop's studio assistant and taught plaster casting.

"It was a very intense and pivotal time for me," she acknowledged. "Michael

Skop was like one of the old maestros. He mostly talked about philosophy,

aesthetics and phenomenology... he never showed you how to do things or what

materials to use."

Influencing, but not imprinting his style onto his students, was essential to

Mr Skop's teaching philosophy, Laura learned. Yet the rapport between student

and teacher did not ensure that sculpting was Laura's particular artistic

niche. In fact, it was during one of Mr Skop's drawing classes that Laura

first started using pastels, and gradually focused primarily on that medium.

A series of odd jobs sustained her after graduation. "I did color separation

in lithography, worked in a frame shop, and to bring in some extra money, I

accepted an offer to clean up the garden of one of my mother's friends," she

said, adding with a laugh, "That's how I got started with landscape work.

"I also get great satisfaction from landscaping," she said. With word-of-mouth

her best advertisement, Laura's business has continued to expand. Spring

through fall, Laura is now constantly busy digging and designing.

To enhance her knowledge and gardening skills, Laura commuted to New York for

a number of years in order to take classes at the New York Botanical Garden.

She eventually earned a landscape design certificate. She also holds a master

gardener certificate from the Co-operative Extension Service, located in

Bethel.

When the gardens are bedded down for the winter, Laura claims special time for

herself, to hibernate and re-energize. When she feels balanced and

re-motivated, her artistic talents largely claim her time.

Shift now to the third panel of Laura's life: singing. Laughing at the irony

of it all, Laura attests to the fact that she loves silence.

"I've always sung in choirs, and in college I did take voice lessons," she

recalled, "but the teacher wasn't very good. When we moved to Newtown, I

joined the Newtown Choral Society to get socially involved in our community."

Laura has been singing with NCS for eight years now.

Music has brought more to her life, she says. It was thanks to performing at

an open mike while at college that Laura became intrigued by the master of

ceremonies at a local club. She and that gentleman are now husband and wife.

"Two years ago I started taking lessons again," she said. "I wanted to

improve, and Lucybelle Anderson has become more than my teacher. I like

talking to her and being with her each week." Is she a good student? Well, Ms

Anderson recommended her student to a church in Danbury, which now pays Laura

to sing on Sunday mornings. Her eyes widening, Laura says, "I'm thrilled to do

it."

Singing also helps Laura and her husband, Rob, to spend time together. Both

were involved in Newtown Town Players' production of Shakespeare's As You Like

It two years ago. The sweetness of her voice was a delight, making quite an

impression on audiences and critics alike.

Though not vocally involved in the current production at the Players' Little

Theatre, Laura designed and painted the sets for The Rivals . A recent

presentation of the show provided a memorable evening. (Husband Rob

Pawlikowski is a raucous, ribald character in the delightful production).

The couple's charming house has, of course, a lovely garden and numerous

potted plants on the deck. The vegetation is quite healthy, growing larger

than most others seem to manage in the area. A sign out front would read, "A

woman with a very, very green thumb resides herein."

When asked how she is able to do all that she does and still be so balanced

and (appearing) relaxed, Laura erupts with a huge laugh and two words: "I

compartmentalize." This seems to be working well for her.

Winter affords the time to go to a special place for the refueling of Laura's

creative juices. A small center, rather like Thoreau's cabin in the Walden

Woods of Massachusetts, exists in Indiana. It is to this locale, The Mary

Anderson Center for the Arts, that Laura migrates to paint, regardless of the

weather.

Her work has been in 17 exhibitions. It was most recently the focus of a

one-man show in the gallery space at McLaughlin Vineyards in Sandy Hook. Found

within the main building of the vineyard's lovely rustic setting were pastels

of Laura and Rob's cats, some still lifes and wonderful landscapes. There was

one image of the property at Ms Anderson's home that was particularly

peaceful. Viewers could almost smell the woods, and feel the air of the scene.

"I seek to draw the viewer into an atmosphere, both sensuous and spiritual,"

explained the artist in one of her artist's statements accompanying the

McLaughlin show.

A number of her pastel works were sold last month, and another solo exhibit is

already scheduled at McLaughlin Vineyards for June of 1999.

Laura has also done illustrations for Orion Magazine , and drew the botanical

specimens that illustrate a fascinating book entitled Rainforest Remedies .

Laura's intent is to transfer her full experience -- including sight, sound,

tactile and emotional qualities -- into her art. This sharing of the senses is

carried through in her landscape designs, theatre sets and even in her

singing.

She has known pain in her life, with the death of her father when she was 14

years old, and later the death of her older brother. But she has the love and

belief of family and friends, and equally as important, the belief in herself.

She has consciously embraced a philosophy she heard expressed many years ago

from Florence Nevelson: Live a creative life, and live it creatively.

Laura Evans continues to be open to exploring life, and the opportunities that

come her way. Hard work does not put her off. On the contrary, she seems to

savor challenges and the pleasure of growing.