Art Is Unity Interviews Laura Anne Walker 
The need to do art is in my blood. I have considered myself an artist since I was 3 years old. My uncle Carnell Walker made his living making signs for businesses; he would with his left and right hands do portraits of people who stopped by his easel outside of the park on the Avenue of the Americas, between 3rd and 4th Streets—I therefore decided at 3, when I had learned to read, to become an artist.
Wow.
Yeah, at the same time I also wanted to be a teacher, which I figured would support my artistic endeavors;
In this US culture where art and artist are not integrated into the activity and career options as readily available, what does it mean to be an artist/to create art?
I do art because I love to do it. When I wasn’t able to do it for many years, I felt the void.
At three I drew pictures from magazines and geometric shapes; at fifteen I studied with someone who would rant at and tried to control the students. I didn’t learn anything from him. I won 2nd prize in an Art Contest (my brother Lance—also an artist—also won 2nd prize).
Are there artists or art works that have made a lasting impression on you?
A number of people: My uncle Carnell Walker—my initial inspiration; my cousin Shaaron, who made interesting “designs” that I tried to copy; my mom, who enjoyed creating fashions for me—I was her fashion model.
There was a nun (who terrified me), Sister Lawrence Emanuel, I believe that was her name, at my high school, Saint Agnes Academic School, that now is no more—she recommended a novel, Rebecca, by Daphne du Maurier, (that terrified me for years) that kind of begins at the ending, “Manderley was no more”…, and also, there was no description of Rebecca, except that “she was the most beautiful creature I ever saw” one of the characters said…Also there was some other description about her looking innocent, like a “Botticelli angel” – So I looked up Botticelli angels, and found the lovely Venus that Botticelli had painted, and I began to get ideas from the flowing nature of his Venus.
In kindergarten, when I was four, Mrs. Jonas told me the ocean painting I made with red couldn’t possibly be the ocean – I disagreed, but didn’t tell her so, but I did tell my mother. Also, gymnastics, ballet, belly dancing, skaters, and dance in general (Peggy Fleming, Ludmilla Tourischeva, Olga Korbut, Nadia Comaneci, Robin Cousins, Surya Bonaly, Dominique Dawes…; 11”, 12” fashion dolls, like Barbie; The strict nuns and lay teachers; nursery rhymes, fairy tales, Grimms’ Fairy Tales, Hans Christian Andersen’s Tales, and The Inner City Mother Goose…; my late younger brother, amazing artist Lance D Walker; and cats, to whom I owe at least one of my nine lives! They all were influences, and continue to be influences… Cats are always in my art somewhere—except on a rare occasion.
Is your art actively influenced by thoughts, emotions, spirit in the moment of creation?
All of the above. I let my pencil do the work. And cats are my muses.
Do current events, politics impact your creation?
Only occasionally, such as September 11; and the assassination of George Floyd – I did art on them.
I do have a work that references Jackson and Jefferson. There’s a “fight back piece” that portrays Black people as not being ok… the old Aunt Jemima; the images on tv…
Do you have other things going on when creating: music, visuals, meetings, company?
It depends on my current circumstances, location and surroundings and atmosphere, my mood, the amount of sleep, food or water that I have had, the temperature, etcetera.
What are, if any, your work habits?
I’m a hard worker, intense, but I have a good time.
Do you work at regularly scheduled time?
No.
Is creation planned, detailed, spontaneous, improvisational, reactive, proactive?
All of the above and more. I will fill in a whole page with what I want to see and then at times it’s like divining…it’s fun to let the pen go where it wants to go….
Parts of my work are auto biographical… My brother’s amazing artistic ability was energizing to me, and I probably mentioned that to him…
What, if any, is your primary medium? Is the medium you primarily work in your preferred medium?
Yes, ink.
Did you study art?
I once took a class, but I was too shy and lacking confidence, and although I turned in work, it was not quite what the teacher expected. He really liked me, so I think he gave me a B or a B-. I believe he was being kind…
Though I created the barest minimum of work for that class, I learned that I love working with ink, nibs, and round sable brushes.
…I was so afraid, I didn’t do anything in it. First assignment was a self-portrait. Was afraid because never felt free…felt, felt restrained by the thought of Rembrandt or Caravaggio, Botticelli…in general there are these restrains put on children. Wanted to do something different as a teacher. Felt this right away…not like the teacher who told me the sea was not red.
Are there things you had to unlearn?
Had to unlearn listening to other people and listen to my own heart – do what I want to do…. I learned how to extend the flow of a line, rather than make a series of short ones.
Are there art movements, styles, periods, and or artists that you’re responding to—expanding, changing, refuting the narrative?
No, it’s all about cats, and often autobiographical.
What role does money, income play in your creation of art?
At some point in my early teens, my father stopped paying for art supplies, but he would pay for graph paper, so I did a lot of doodling during this period. In high school, when I started doodling, I started to become free of restraints? This became especially true when I saw doodling similar to mine in a museum, although I still had feelings about not being skilled in realism
Art is like Soul Food, or peasant food: it starts off being unrecognized, can be lived on, and then in order to do it, it suddenly becomes an expensive delicacy, prohibitive, if that makes sense.
Yes… Is your basic living income derived from your art?
No, it is not.
I do sell my work. It’s an honor and a joy, also a sadness because you have to give away something you worked so hard on – 1st piece sold for $75, have sold many pieces subsequent to that including to Kim Cattrall and Patch Adams, MD.
What work, other interests occupy you in addition to art?
I am a Speaker who advocates for the rights of people who live with mental illnesses.
Adjusting to a new life after the death of my Mom…I was lucky–on my way to a meeting, I went into a room, the man was leading an art group. I later found out the man had a gallery. I was involved with the gallery for the next 20 years (HAI) until it went out of business.
The art gallery was most beneficial to me, because I got to express myself which is probably something I hadn’t done which caused me to get so sick.
Do you apply for grants, fellowships etc.?
I believe I would need to take a course on applying for those things.
Do you apply for gallery shows and other exhibits? Give artist talks?
Occasionally.
I do apply for gallery shows and other exhibits—I’ve shown in more than 50 group exhibitions, and in a solo show of 60 works in SoHo… For any awards or honors I have received, I thank my muses - the cats that have graced my life.
Many thanks to Laura Anne Walker, view Laura Anne’s work here and in ArtIsUnity Gallery.