About

Laurie Wachter is a third generation realist painter and photographer based in Northern California. Her minimalist style and selection of subjects from her Pennsylvania Dutch heritage, local Sonoma County farms, and classical Lusitano horses yields a reminder of the beauty and serenity inherent in a life closer to nature. Laurie's classical training was begun before she attended elementary school by her grandmother, Ivan Lenker, a locally prominent central Pennsylvania landscape painter. Laurie majored in Art at Dickinson College. She studied in the Atelier tradition, first learning Old Masters techniques for ten years under David Zuccarini, who taught the Maroger principles learned from Joseph Sheppard at the Maryland Institute of Art. In Chicago, she studied portraiture from life at Richard Halstead's School of Portrait and Figure Art for three years. "I love the smell of oil paints, their feel on my brush as I apply them to the canvas or linen, mixing them on my palette or on the painting to find just the right color, and layering them to create a feeling of age or a realistic texture. My paintings most often come to me in dreams or as sudden images while awake. From there, it’s a matter of using expressive brushwork and deep, rich colors to convey the spirit and a lot of measuring to capture the likeness." Laurie's work has been included in numerous juried art exhibitions, including, most recently:

Sonoma County Art Trails Open Studios

Sonoma County Art Trails Preview exhibit at Corricks/My Daughter the Framer

Gravity of the Heart

Deck the Walls Exhibit at Gallery One

Sonoma County Art Trails Preview exhibit at Gallery One

Laurie Wachter on the Geysers mountain in Geyserville, CA, Sonoma County byby ©Leigh Wachter Photography

Laurie Wachter in her studio painting "Red Horses" by ©Leigh Wachter Photography

Laurie Wachter is a third generation realist painter and photographer based in Northern California. Her minimalist style and selection of subjects from her Pennsylvania Dutch heritage, local Sonoma County farms, and classical Lusitano horses yields a reminder of the beauty and serenity inherent in a life closer to nature. Laurie's classical training was begun before she attended elementary school by her grandmother, Ivan Lenker, a locally prominent central Pennsylvania landscape painter. Laurie majored in Art at Dickinson College. She studied in the Atelier tradition, first learning Old Masters techniques for ten years under David Zuccarini, who taught the Maroger principles learned from Joseph Sheppard at the Maryland Institute of Art. In Chicago, she studied portraiture from life at Richard Halstead's School of Portrait and Figure Art for three years. "I love the smell of oil paints, their feel on my brush as I apply them to the canvas or linen, mixing them on my palette or on the painting to find just the right color, and layering them to create a feeling of age or a realistic texture. My paintings most often come to me in dreams or as sudden images while awake. From there, it’s a matter of using expressive brushwork and deep, rich colors to convey the spirit and a lot of measuring to capture the likeness." Laurie's work has been included in numerous juried art exhibitions, including, most recently:

Laurie Wachter is a third generation realist painter and photographer based in Northern California. Her minimalist style and selection of subjects from her Pennsylvania Dutch heritage, local Sonoma County farms, and classical Lusitano horses yields a reminder of the beauty and serenity inherent in a life closer to nature. Laurie's classical training was begun before she attended elementary school by her grandmother, Ivan Lenker, a locally prominent central Pennsylvania landscape painter. Laurie majored in Art at Dickinson College. She studied in the Atelier tradition, first learning Old Masters techniques for ten years under David Zuccarini, who taught the Maroger principles learned from Joseph Sheppard at the Maryland Institute of Art. In Chicago, she studied portraiture from life at Richard Halstead's School of Portrait and Figure Art for three years. "I love the smell of oil paints, their feel on my brush as I apply them to the canvas or linen, mixing them on my palette or on the painting to find just the right color, and layering them to create a feeling of age or a realistic texture. My paintings most often come to me in dreams or as sudden images while awake. From there, it’s a matter of using expressive brushwork and deep, rich colors to convey the spirit and a lot of measuring to capture the likeness." Laurie's work has been included in numerous juried art exhibitions, including, most recently:

Laurie Wachter is a third generation realist painter and photographer based in Northern California. Her minimalist style and selection of subjects from her Pennsylvania Dutch heritage, local Sonoma County farms, and classical Lusitano horses yields a reminder of the beauty and serenity inherent in a life closer to nature. Laurie is classically trained, beginning as a pre-schooler under her grandmother, through college and then learning Old Masters technique under David Zuccarini, who trained with Joseph Sheppard. She also studied portraiture at Richard Halstead's School of Portrait and Figure Art. Laurie's work has been included in numerous juried art exhibitions, including, most recently:

Laurie Wachter in her studio painting "Red Horses" by ©Leigh Wachter Photography

Laurie Wachter on the Geysers mountain in Geyserville, CA, Sonoma County byby ©Leigh Wachter Photography