LAURIE GOODHART     ARTIST

Glimpses Of An Imminent Sanctuary

I'm hoping to conjure a little sweetness, so to speak, and root it in the mythic, the mystic, and the cycles of Nature.

The motives underlying all my paintings are both current and timeless: our common need for sustenance, beauty, and grace. Humans have not changed dramatically since we first appeared and I look for threads of continuity.

Paintings of vessels, birds, plant life, and human figures are cast as aspects of an elusive yet inviting sanctuary. Frequently the images are rooted in the remnants of ancient cultures, both tangible and oral, but they are always responding to our current world as well.

Concurrent with my professional art practice, soon after completing a dual major in fine art and philosophy, I was also an organic farmer from 1988-2017 largely occupied with goats and with effecting alchemical transformations of milk and plants. Those decades of raw, ever-precarious, thoughtful farm experience resonate throughout the artwork, testifying to the cycles & perils of life for all sentient beings, humans included.



"Without remembering, how will our past speak to our future? How will we even remember if we have left something important behind, and if so, where to go to find it?" - Julia Alvarez


Some historical context for these fresh echoes of perennial motifs: In the ancient Mediterranean world, a full sanctuary dedicated to a deity included the architectural elements and lush, lively groves surrounding a temple; an outdoor altar for offerings of valuables and edibles; the temple itself, where a representation of the deity resided; a “backstage” room for practical tasks; and a treasury room where the most precious offerings were kept safe. The portfolio of paintings here is organized with this in mind.


"All of us, women and men, are just beginning to grasp the significance of both iconography and myth, beginning to understand that they represent a history of a large part of the life force of this planet."
- Winifred Milius Lubell 1914-2012