Laurie Maves Guglielmi: A Life Shaped by Art and Creativity
Laurie Maves Guglielmi’s career path has been anything but conventional, reflecting her adventurous spirit and unwavering passion for art. She began her formal study of studio art at the University of Wisconsin in the early 1990s. Like many young artists, she faced uncertainty about how to launch a creative career. This uncertainty led her to explore the world—waiting tables in Ireland and working as a stevedore in Dutch Harbor, Alaska. These experiences helped clarify her purpose: she wanted to use her love of art to help others. This realization inspired her to pursue a master’s degree in Art Therapy at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, where she graduated in 1997.

After completing her studies, Laurie moved to Denver, Colorado, where she began her career as an art therapist. Over the years, she worked in a wide variety of settings, including nursing homes, preschool day treatment programs, cancer centers, and kindergartens. At the same time, Laurie was always creating—constantly drawing and painting. Her work quickly gained recognition within the Denver community, and she developed a loyal base of over 500 collectors who appreciated her unique, stylized representational art. Remarkably, she achieved this success largely without traditional gallery representation.

One of Laurie’s most memorable career milestones occurred in 2008 when she performed live painting at Red Rocks Amphitheater, captivating a crowd of 10,000 alongside three other artists. This moment solidified her reputation as a “celebrity” live performance painter in the region, an identity she embraced with enthusiasm and grace.

In 2017, Laurie and her husband, Ralph Guglielmi, relocated to Sarasota, Florida, seeking new inspiration. A year later, she participated in an intensive intuitive painting workshop led by German artist Bernd Haussmann, an experience that revolutionized her artistic approach. She discovered a passion for large-scale intuitive abstract painting, a practice that delved deeply into her subconscious and pushed her creative boundaries. Through this process, Laurie embraced bold experimentation with media, color, mark-making, and composition.

This transformative period led Laurie to establish her own arts studio, The 11th Orange, in the spring of 2019. There, she developed and taught her signature “BE FREE” large-scale painting classes, empowering hundreds of students to explore their creativity without constraints. Unfortunately, the economic challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic forced Laurie to make the difficult decision to close her studio in 2020.

Despite this setback, Laurie continued her journey. She became the in-house artist for JKL Design Group, a prominent interior design firm in northern Sarasota. There, she collaborated with designers to create bespoke large-scale contemporary paintings for luxury homes and corporate spaces while continuing to teach her BE FREE concepts to students.

Today, Laurie works from her home studio in Palmetto, Florida, focusing on custom oil paintings for clients and interior designers, crafting statement pieces that bring spaces to life. In addition to painting, she writes for her blog, The Sketchbook Diaries of a Menopausal Art Therapist, where she shares insights on creativity, wellness, and life.

She also offers one-on-one art therapy and teaching sessions, helping individuals discover more about themselves through the transformative power of art.

Laurie’s journey is a testament to her resilience, adaptability, and unrelenting passion for using art as a means to inspire, heal, and connect.