I love working with my hands, trying new crafts and being creative but I never considered myself much of a visual artist. After an awful painting class and some sad attempts at paper crafts I finally hit my stride in collage. I immediately appreciated the meditative process: choosing my pieces, working their placement to create balance or non-composure, and then watching the final result emerge.

Soon after my start in collage I branched out into mosaics and fell in love with them, while gaining the confidence to try more new mediums. I’ve taken classes at Studio One, The Crucible, Mendocino Arts Center, The Kala Institute, Slow Burn Glass and The Bullseye Glass Resource Center expanding my work into mixed media encaustic painting, ceramics, glass fusing, and woodworking. In each of these mediums I find satisfaction in that meditative process and then slowly watching the finished piece emerge. In 2015 I decided to both show and sell my work, creating the Laili Bug Studio. Now I’m very happy to branch out into teaching workshops as well. I hope you enjoy viewing and reading about my craft!

~Laili Gohartaj