"Endless Love"

Valentine's Day Card Illustration, 2014

SCM Transportation, Somerville, MA

Mixed Media

© Laura DeDonato

 

Endless love... and the SCM Transportation vans driving over the hills and far away, spreading love. Happy to be able to do this year's 2014 Valentine's Day card for SCM Trasportation! Too bad this year's theme didn't require me to buy extra chocolate for reference!

Commissioned Map, 2013

Mixed Media, Digital, 36" x 24"

© Laura DeDonato

Maps take many forms, and have different purposes. Some show you how to get some where and others show the journey. This "map" poster, printed 24" x 36", was commissioned as a gift that combined personal lyrics and places the recipient has traveled. Starting with their hometown of York, Maine, it spirals in towards their current home. It is a reminder that home is where the heart is.

"City of Champions: Football"

Summer of Work and Learning 2013

Outdoor mural 21ft x 54ft

While I love flowers, sports and portraits are always at the top of my list for favorite themes.  I was over the moon to get the opportunity to design a football themed mural with the Patriots and Brockton Boxers for this incredible wall.  It took me 4 years to get approval for this wall, and it was absolutely worth the wait!  It's located at the corner of Belmont and Main Street on The Money Market building (245 Main Street, Brockton, MA 02301). 

The mural's backdrop is Brockton High School's Marciano Stadium, including the 2 ton, 20ft statue of Rocky Marciano.  The mural includes Brockton standouts Greg McMurtry (top right) and Jason Vega (bottom left), both of which spent time with the Patriots.  Coach Colombo, the winningest coach in Massachusetts history over his 34 years with BHS, celebrates on the shoulders of his players.  He is flanked by Patriot legends and Super Bowl Champions, Tom Brady and Tedy Bruschi.  Gillette Stadium (top right) and one of the many state championship trophies (center) also appear in the mural.    

 I am so proud of my interns' dedication and hard work, and I had another amazing summer with Nan Shea. It's our biggest wall yet, 21.33' x 54' and required me to learn how to operate a scissor lift!  I'm excited to see what the 2014 Summer of Work and Learning has in store for us!

Sports Posters

For the past three years, the Oliver Ames Basketball Boosters have asked me to create custom sports posters for the boys and girls basketball teams and cheerleaders for Senior Night.  The posters hang by the entrance with words and quotes that were provided by their parents. 

To create the posters, parents, coaches and teammates are asked to provide descriptive words and a quote to describe the graduating senior, as well as a head shot and a picture showing the athlete in an action pose that represents the player's style or signature move.

Above are examples of the reference photographs that were submitted for the creation of the posters.

I hand draw the bodies for the posters, so the action shot is very important to capture the essence of the athletes.  The head shot needs to be high resolution, clear and with good lighting to ensure it is not pixelated or blurry when enlarged to about 6 inches on the poster. 

The final images are 18" x 24" laminated posters.

Here are the posters for the 2013 Basketball seniors and cheerleaders:

OA Girls Basketball:

OA Boys Basketball:

 

OA Cheerleaders:

 If you are interested in having posters created for any team sport, please contact me at Laura@LNDstudio.com.

On the road to Love...

"Follow Your Heart"

Valentine's Day Card Illustration

SCM Transportation, Somerville, MA

Mixed Media

© Laura DeDonato

The amazing people at SCM Transportation have a great program they run every Valentine's Day called "Paul's Ride."  A gift of $30 underwrites round trip transportation for a rider to visit his or her sweetheart in the hospital or nursing home and $100 covers five round trips.

This year, SCM asked me to create an illustration for their Valentine's Day card to support Paul's Ride.  I had fun creating a custom heart box filled with little chocolates in the shape of the SCM vans.  To create my reference for this illustration I had to take chocolates from different boxes and make the little ruffled cups from muffin tins.  You can view some of this process work on my twitter and instagram @LNDstudio. 

I hope everyone has a Happy Valentine's Day with those who you love, doing the things that you love to do!!

"Miracle on Lowder Street"

Acrylic and Mixed Media
© Laura DeDonato

 

 

 This year's Brescia Ball theme was Miracle on Lowder Street.  Calling on the Miracle on 34th Street movie poster for inspiration, I created an image using the spotlight lighting and larger figure with their arm around a little girl.   

 

The two girls are standing at one the beautiful gates on Ursuline Academy's campus sharing their hopes, dreams and future aspirations.  They are looking off into the distance toward the Convent and the stairs they'll walk down for graduation.  

 

The illustration was used for the cover of the program brochure, RSVP and invitation.  The text and layout design for the pieces continued the light snow falling in the night for a background and used the fonts in the Gala's logo.

 

Dream Street

238 Marlborough Street

Commissioned Acrylic Painting
11" x 14"
© Laura DeDonato

I'm very excited to finally share this painting that I completed this summer.  This is the second home that I have painted on the beautiful Marlborough Street in Back Bay, Boston, MA.  (The Barnes Mansion is on the corner of Marlborough St and Charlesgate.)  Marlborough Street is parallel to Newbury St, Commonwealth Ave, Beacon St and is lined with gorgeous architecture and beautiful gardens.  I love walking through this neighborhood, because it's so inspiring with all of the colors and details.  

My commissioners were going through big changes (congratulations!) and needed more space, so it was time to move out of their Marlborough Street home.  They enjoyed their time so much here that they asked me to paint the front of their building to hang in their new home.  This is somewhere I would love to live, pretty much a dream neighborhood!  Enjoy!

Summer of Work and Learning 2012

In Bloom

Another successful Summer of Work and Learning Mural Team program complete with a beautiful mural to brighten up the facade of The Charity Guild building at 501 Main Street, Brockton, MA 02301.  This summer was challenging with extreme heat and no shade from the sun on the 600+ sq feet of wall, but we made it through!  Below are some pictures of the final mural, but you can view all of the final mural photographs and all of our progress work from start to finish at the Summer of Work and Learning Mural Team Blog.  You can also view mural pictures from previous summers.

"In Bloom"

Design © Laura DeDonato

Summer 2012

If you know of any walls in Brockton, MA that would be perfect for a mural, please let me know!

A Commission Come True!

Purple Begonia
Commissioned wrap around Acrylic Painting
3' x 4' x 1.5"
© Laura DeDonato


Most of my work is commissioned, but when I get the rare chance to do a painting for myself I almost always choose between a flower and a portrait. So, when I was commissioned to paint a flower, it was a dream come true.

I worked with the clients to pick the perfect flower and palette for their bedroom. We agreed on a purple flower with lots of petals. Everywhere I went, I was constantly searching for the perfect, inspiring flower. And, one day there it was, a white tuberous begonia. I took a photograph and digitally altered it to make it purple. Once approved, I started painting and 3 months later, the painting was delivered.

I miss seeing it every day in my studio, but I know it will bring happiness to its new owners!



Note: More pictures to come. Due to the paintings large size, it has been difficult to capture its true colors. The reproduction file is currently being retouched to capture the original painting's color.

Edison Indoor Mural Project - Afterschool Program at the Keith Center

Waiting and ready to be hung, the afterschool Edison indoor mural portrait paintings are complete. It will be framed in the Edison Conference room in the Keith Center in Brockton, MA. Preparations for an invention mural mixed with some of Edison's firsts in Brockton have begun and will be painted and installed on the opposite side of the room.

The three panels show Edison as a child, young man and in his later years. Edison's interest in invention and entrepreneurial endeavors was sparked at a young age. The conference room is used for meetings with people all over the state as well as students from Brockton school. The panels will be installed with the young Edison in the middle with the other two looking towards him as a reminder of the powerful contributions one can make at any age and how important trial, error and persistence is to growth.