Green Goods: Tulsa Art Studio Tour Artist Laurie Keeley

This post is part of our series on Oklahoma Visual Arts Coalition's Tulsa Art Studio Tour 2014. A self-guided tour, the Tulsa Art Studio Tour showcases the talent of artists who live and work in Tulsa.Today we are featuring Tour artist Laurie Keeley.

Working from a background of art and garden design, artist Laurie Keeley sets out to create furniture and objects to share with the public. "Years ago I realized that I had created & surrounded myself with a secret world of art and plants, " says Keeley.

FURN - the studio of Tour Artist Laurie Keeley

Her sculpture is inspired by raw salvaged materials, and she adds a new functionality to these 
objects. A complex practice of conversion is involved in her studio.She works with very industrial processes – cutting, welding, powder coating – all just to reclaim 
materials.  Her internal process is simple: she turns up the loud music, turns on lots of lights, and just gets to it. She loves to play, experiment, and explore. "If having products to sell were not an issue, I would make prototypes all day long," she says.

Looking to energize and vitalize spaces, Laurie Keeley created her own business, FURN, where she rents and sells the furniture made in her studio. "My mission with FURN is to produce functional art that breathes soul into the spaces we spend time in syncing our everyday natural environments, art, & approachable design creatively together," says Keeley.

Tour Artist Laurie Keeley in her studio

She recently moved to her new space, which is a commercial live/work space. Having traded trees and greenery for larger windows and trains, she can’t wait to add windows, establish plants, and create an oasis in her new industrial home.

Meet & see the working studio of Keeley along with 13 other artists on April 12-13, noon until 5 pm on the Tulsa Art Studio Tour. For more info, or to purchase tickets, visit www.TulsaArtStudioTour.org.