Laura Ryan is a self-taught artist with an enthusiastic approach to art making. "Although I wish I'd discovered art sooner and had training, I believe one of the great things about being self-taught is that I'm not confined by the rules sometimes applied in formal education. I've taken workshops, many of them here at Art Unraveled, and each one of them has helped me define who I am as an artist. I love exploring new techniques and working with new materials, perhaps even using them in the 'wrong' way. I am inspired by the work of other artist especially some of the artist who broke the rules, like Matisse and his gang of fauvists, Rauschenberg, printmaker and mixed media artist and of course, Picasso who seemed to have explored every medium available. I spent many years working at a sales career and along the way I lost who I really was. It was all about the numbers and meeting goals. Today, through art, I am rediscovering pure joy, curiosity and a sense of wonder." Laura's work has been published in Somerset Studio, Somerset Gallery, Cloth Paper Scissors and Printmaking + Mixed Media.