Laura  Rice has been active in the Santa Cruz art community since 1987 as both a teacher and a working artist. She has spent the last year honing her painting skills, and has completed another body of expressive portraiture.  In addition to painting, Laura continues to teach art classes for the County Office of Education.  In her portraits Laura seeks to find human dignity in everyday people.  Her images are expressionistic in their use of rich color, bold brushwork, and a strong sense of graphic design.

In a manner similar to the portraits of Pablo Picasso or Paul Cezanne, Laura exaggerates the human form in order to enhance the character and emotional impact of her subjects.   Her images are sometimes humorous and sometimes disturbing, as though they are revealing a glimpse of something slightly embarrassing.  At the same time her subjects have a strong sense of presence that defines them as unique human beings, regardless of their flaws and eccentricities.