The painter and Meyer Vogl Gallery co-owner debuts a new body of work as the Charleston gallery celebrates its 10th anniversary.
Laurie Meyer didn’t set out to become a painter. The Ohio State grad moved to town in 1983 to teach in Mount Pleasant and spent a decade in pharmaceutical sales before letting herself call painting a job instead of a hobby. Trained by acclaimed local artists Rhett Thurman, Martin Ahrens, and Emmy Bronson, Meyer developed a knack for oil, watercolor, and gouache mediums. Nearly 30 years and one gallery later, she’s still chasing the thing that hooked her back then: light, and the way it moves across the marsh, a face, or Charleston rooftops.
Her upcoming exhibition, “Home Again,”—built entirely around subjects she’s found in her own Lowcountry backyard—opens at Meyer Vogl Gallery on October 2, in celebration of the gallery’s 10th anniversary.
Here, Meyer discusses what keeps her coming back to the brush and how tragedy sparked opening a gallery with her daughter, Katie Geer, and business partner Marissa Vogl in 2016.
Catching Up To Her Calling: Like many artists, I had an elementary school teacher who recognized that I had drawing skills. In high school, I was the cartoonist for our newspaper. Through college, I painted a lot for friends.
When I moved to Charleston, there were only a handful of galleries downtown, and most artists were working in watercolor. That’s what I was doing too, since it was portable and easy to clean up. I met artists like Rhett Thurman, Betty Anglin Smith, and Margaret Petterson. Getting to know these incredible women and their work was hugely inspiring to me. I knew right then that I wanted to do that.
In 1997, while traveling a lot for work, raising three daughters, and painting every chance I got, my husband and I decided I could just be an artist. We were still a two-income family, so it felt possible. I started out painting murals in people’s homes, and slowly it evolved into me becoming the painter I’d always dreamed of being.
Her Process: I work from photos, life, and en plein air. So, I do get outside to paint, but I also love my studio. That’s where I do my large pieces, which is my greatest joy. For those, I’ll use photographs as a reference. I always tell my students: don’t copy the photo. You have to understand the science to get it right. Photos lie—they’re just a reference for where light and shadow may fall.
Guiding Light: I don’t pigeonhole myself into subject matter; what I’m really chasing is beautiful light. I’m fascinated by the way it travels and hits objects, and I try to get better at capturing that. I interpret light and try to create its illusion in large floral paintings, in my backlit jungle series, in figurative subjects, and in architecture. In Charleston, light bounces between the houses and creates a unique glow.
Response To Tragedy: In the days following the Mother Emanuel [AME Church] shooting [in 2015], Marissa and I were wrapping up our [Piccolo] Spoleto show when she called and said, “We need to do something for this community, as artists.” So we created a show called “Artists for Emanuel” at the Cigar Factory to raise money for Coastal Community Foundation’s Lowcountry Unity Fund. Ninety artists donated work for the auction. It was an incredible, unforgettable evening.
While we were organizing that event, a renovated, downtown gallery space was in need of a tenant. Around the same time, Katie had moved back from New York and said, “We need to open a gallery.” My husband suggested I bring on a partner, so I talked to Marissa, and it didn’t take long for her to agree. It’s been an amazing experience ever since.
Innately Artistic: Presenting my work to the public in the early days was a matter of confidence versus courage. I was adopted, and as a young adult in my twenties, I learned about my birth history: that my biological mother was an artist, too. That was validation for me that art wasn’t just something I picked up. It has always been part of who I am.
Timeless Expression: It amazes me when people tell me they bought a painting from me 20 years ago and still love it. Art transcends time. It can travel through generations and hold that special quality that draws people in.
