Daily Inspiration: Meet Clair Laustsen

Today we’d like to introduce you to Clair Laustsen. 

Hi Clair, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
Growing up I enjoyed playing with art. Over the years it was just something I did for fun now and then; my abilities came out when making holiday ornaments or if I had a project for school. It wasn’t until I separated from my husband in 2018 that I decided to make a business out of my art. I painted a tree mural in my sister’s nursery for my niece. Then I painted one in my son’s room, and then a friend wanted to pay me to paint one for her nursery. Clair’s Sacred Spaces grew from there. What I didn’t realize, was that I was creating Sacred Space for myself, to discover who I was, while I made Sacred Space in people’s homes. 

Now I paint in homes, restaurants, schools, hair salons, and many other businesses. I have even painted on the outside of a storage container. I am so excited to spread Sacred Space all over to world by sharing my art.

My paintings and drawings typically consist of nature: landcapes, trees, flowers, and sometimes animals. I have shipped some of my paintings around the US and look forward to doing more of that. When I paint on canvas, I use oil or acrylics. When I paint on walls, I use wall paints. 

Today my business is growing and I will have completed 27 mural projects this year. These are all over the Denver Metro area. I hang my art at Denver Art Society in a regular display, I also have some paintings at Pirate Art Gallery in the 40 West District and some paintings for sale in a dermatology office in Cherry Creek. I am piloting a glass painting class tonight via zoom. I am so excited to see where this journey leads and I’m open to the twists and turns that come with it.

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Growing my art business hasn’t always been a smooth road. There have been many growing pains. I have learned so much this year including renting lifts, writing up a contract, learning about insurance, how to schedule my time, and how to price my work. Pricing my work and valuing my time has been my most valuable struggle. I am learning that my time is valuable and that sharing my gift/energy with the world should be compensated. 

As you can guess, these behind-the-scenes business aspects aren’t how an artist wants to be spending the majority of their time.

Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
Currently, I am most proud of my work in murals, I am different than some muralists because I use brush paint as opposed to spray. I am known for nature murals. I am most hired for trees, landscapes, and floral paintings. 

I also completed two murals with community involvement. I am very proud of these. One is located in Sheridan High School. Several high school students helped design and then paint the mural with my guidance/direction. The mural was based on what is important to the students about their direct Sheridan Community. The second community mural was on a mobile at Village East Elementary School. The mural is based on their school mascot, an eagle, which has its wings spread around almost 180 students. I provided a preliminary lesson plan where the students designed their portion of the mural in class. The students chose their skin color and shirt color and drew them on a template paper. I organized a schedule for the 6 fourth grade classes of students to join me at the wall and paint their own “student” on the mural. There are even some students pictured wearing a hijab. This mural was a great success and a fun gift to the community to celebrate the 50-year anniversary of the school. I would love to complete more outdoor murals with community involvement because I feel that these images have greater impact if the direct community is represented.

What’s next?
I have many big goals/plans for next year! I would like to schedule at least 5 murals in states other than Colorado. I would love to collaborate with another mural artist on an outdoor mural in downtown Denver. I also picture myself opening my own gallery of some sort eventually but I don’t know what that looks like yet. 

I have started an artist community page on Instagram called @the.artist.space where I would like to help motivate, give tips, and share inspiration for other artists to grow their businesses and make income. I am hoping we can work together to lift each other up and network. 

Contact Info:

• Email: clairssacredspaces@gmail.com
• Website: www.clairssacredspaces.com
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/clairssacredspaces
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/clairssacredspaces
• Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/clair-s-sacred-spaces-aurora