Biography
Lori Vonderhorst’s thoughtful compositions draw you into a world intimate with nature and abundant with personal symbolism. This award-winning artist’s paintings and mixed-media pieces are treasured by collectors across the country.
“Vonderhorst’s paintings are especially haunting” writes critic Ron Glowen. Her paintings are dreamy and rich: delicate bird eggs hover above flowers not quite settled in the vase; twigs and vines twist together as if embracing; words float in the background, alluding to a story, a memory, a moment. Her collages and constructions — incorporating estate sale and junk store ephemera collected throughout the years — invite you to imagine the lives of another: souvenirs collected and discarded; mementos of another place and time.
Born in New Jersey in 1958, Lori is self-taught and has lived and worked in Washington State since 1979. She shares a studio with her husband, singer/songwriter/guitarist Carl Tosten.
Statement
My father was a printer, photographer and “ad man” of the 50’s; my mother a graphic artist and painter. I grew up surrounded by paper, paint and ink, so making things was a part of everyday life. Memories of my childhood in New Jersey — taking long walks through the woods and watershed, watching my father plant a tree, or spending hours studying the flowers in my grandmother’s garden — often find their way into my work. I am inspired by things in nature and their metaphors in life, such as a nest with delicate fragments of eggshells, or a flower in various stages of growth, to tell a story or focus on a fleeting moment in time.
I am primarily self-taught and enjoy the process of creating in a variety of mediums, but I am presently drawn to working with paint and collage. I own a graphic design studio where my computer space is slowly being taken over by paper, paint and ink.
Lori Vonderhorst’s thoughtful compositions draw you into a world intimate with nature and abundant with personal symbolism. This award-winning artist’s paintings and mixed-media pieces are treasured by collectors across the country.
“Vonderhorst’s paintings are especially haunting” writes critic Ron Glowen. Her paintings are dreamy and rich: delicate bird eggs hover above flowers not quite settled in the vase; twigs and vines twist together as if embracing; words float in the background, alluding to a story, a memory, a moment. Her collages and constructions — incorporating estate sale and junk store ephemera collected throughout the years — invite you to imagine the lives of another: souvenirs collected and discarded; mementos of another place and time.
Born in New Jersey in 1958, Lori is self-taught and has lived and worked in Washington State since 1979. She shares a studio with her husband, singer/songwriter/guitarist Carl Tosten.
Statement
My father was a printer, photographer and “ad man” of the 50’s; my mother a graphic artist and painter. I grew up surrounded by paper, paint and ink, so making things was a part of everyday life. Memories of my childhood in New Jersey — taking long walks through the woods and watershed, watching my father plant a tree, or spending hours studying the flowers in my grandmother’s garden — often find their way into my work. I am inspired by things in nature and their metaphors in life, such as a nest with delicate fragments of eggshells, or a flower in various stages of growth, to tell a story or focus on a fleeting moment in time.
I am primarily self-taught and enjoy the process of creating in a variety of mediums, but I am presently drawn to working with paint and collage. I own a graphic design studio where my computer space is slowly being taken over by paper, paint and ink.
For a pdf of Lori's resume,click here>>