Eva Ray is the artistic persona of Laura Brown, a fine artist based in Whitstable, Kent. She is known for her dream-like, gentle, and distinctive oil pastel artworks that blend her love of pattern and colour. Her work is heavily influenced by her time living and studying jewellery design in India, where she spent six years immersed in the vibrant aesthetics of places like Jaipur and Kerala. This experience infuses her art with a unique fusion of Eastern inspiration and the coastal landscapes of her Kent surroundings.
Laura’s paintings assemble areas of colour in blocks or layered colour to create pattern within these areas or within the composition as a whole. Laura works in oil sticks and pastels, they allow her to feel physically close to the painting and allow energy and movement through the pressure of the mark making.
Laura’s artistic journey began in childhood, influenced by her mother’s painting and the sensory allure of oil paints and linseed oil. She pursued a BA in Fine Arts and later volunteered as an art therapist globally, enriching her perspective. Her influences include post-impressionists like Pierre Bonnard and Edouard Vuillard, as well as artists like Georgia O’Keeffe, whose large-scale botanicals left a lasting impact on her.
