A bit about the artist

   Grethe Lauesen was born in a town on the outskirts of Copenhagen in the spring of 1943. She knew from quite a young age that she was an artist. She graduated from the art university as a commercial artist and later also as a textile artist, where she won a prize, given to her by the king of Denmark.
Along with her husband Peter Hort Petersen they emigrated to Canada in 1975. Both Grethe and Peter taught in the art department for 12 years the art college in Sault Ste Marie, Ontario. They moved to Ottawa in 1989 and stayed there until coming home to Denmark in 2003. They moved to Svaneke, Bornholm. Bornholm is a little island situated in the middle of the Baltic Sea. It's famous for it's special magical light which has been attracting artists to it for centuries. Grethe and Peter always had a love for the artist island and quickly felt at home.

Grethe Lauesen has worked as a self-employed artist since 1990 and has exhibited throughout her 28 years in Canada, and has been represented by more than a few well known galleries, including The Robert McLaughlin Gallery in Oshawa, Allied Francaise in Ottawa, Gallerie Calligrammes in Ottawa and L'Imagier in Aylmer. Once back in Denmark, It didn't take Grethe long to find a gallery to represent her. She exhibits bi-annually in Galerie Gerly in Copenhagen. and in Galleri Kaya too. In 2004, She participated in the Gallery Kaffe Slottet's censored autumn exhibition, where she received the censor's award, along with a special exhibition of her own in the spring. in 2009, she joined an artist collective called 4D. Together they share a large workspace and exhibit their artwork together.

Painting in vivid, spontaneous and sometimes florescent colours, Grethe's  immediate, strong subjects and exciting compositions are often reminiscent of Danish art. She paints mainly with acrylic colours, either on canvas or watercolour paper. The textile artist in her keeps Grethe playing with textures and and patterns. She loves to play with paper, layers of it, painted and then made to a collage. There can be quite a bit of humour in Grethe's paintings, but also a human understanding and situational awareness. She is very inspired by the spontaneity of children, mythology, history, other cultures and stories from her own childhood.

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