100 Colorado Creatives 3.0: Laura Krudener

#58: Laura Krudener

Artist Laura Krudener modernizes color-field painting, blending it with the theater of action painting as she pours, drips and layers acrylic paint across large canvases. But Krudener is no one-trick pony. With her Among the Colors platform, she goes with a different kind of flow, sharing an entrepreneurial rainbow of women’s lifestyle interests. Learn more about Krudener via her answers to the 100CC questionnaire.
Westword: If you could collaborate with anyone in history, who would it be, and why?

Laura Krudener: Rainer Marie Rilke. I would love nothing more than to sit in a Parisian cafe in the 1910s with Rilke and Paul Cézanne and converse about poetry, painting and philosophy.

Who in the world is interesting to you right now, and why?

Alicia Keys. There is this feminist, powerful honesty about her that I feel is so important to subvert the pop-music community. I love her message of natural beauty and authentic creative pursuit, and her ability to freak a bunch of people out just by not wearing makeup at an awards show. We need more people doing their own thing in all creative industries: film, music and the visual arts.
What's one art trend you want to see die this year?

I always want to see artists supporting each other as opposed to being competitive or overtly negative. Being an artist is hard. I feel like when we support and lift each other up instead of fighting against each other, the community itself flourishes and the artists get to benefit from that collaboration and support. I think Denver could take precedence in highlighting that at a national level.

What's your day job?

I am the founder and creative director of Among the Colors, a lifestyle media company. I launched Among the Colors a little over a year ago. Before that, I spent fifteen years in the textile industry, working in fashion as a textile designer, trend forecaster and artistic director for various domestic and international brands. I started Among the Colors as a digital platform to montage my different creative pursuits and interests, including art and fashion, which were my career background. I also included my passion for food, travel, design and wellness into the fabric of Among the Colors. A big part of Among the Colors is inspiring creativity in various mediums, as well as lifting up the creative community of Denver and giving Denver a spotlight nationally. I love being able to meet and collaborate with female entrepreneurs, makers and artists and being able to share their stories.
A mystery patron offers you unlimited funds for life. What will you do with it?

Ooh, this is a fun one…and an easy answer. I would go on a permanent artist residency around the world, traveling to different cities, making artwork along the way and getting to know the local communities. Yes, I could do that forever.

Denver, love it or leave it? What keeps you here — or makes you want to leave?

Absolutely love it. I’ve lived in San Francisco, Brooklyn, Seattle and Atlanta, but Denver has stolen my heart. There is a sense of positivity to the air. Maybe it’s the high altitude, but the people, community, active lifestyle and sunny weather just can’t be beat in my book. And I am deeply in love with the mountains. To live in such a booming, progressive city, but also be so close to the best powder days I can imagine, is surely a dream come true for me.
What's the one thing Denver could do to help the arts?

I would love to see more spaces for artists to make their work. Affordable art studios are so important, and I would love to see more grants given to art-studio spaces and to help artists have studios.

What's on your agenda in the coming year?

Painting-wise, I am on the verge of mixing up my process and materials in some new and exciting ways. I also am exploring opportunities to get my work in front of more of a national audience. As far as Among the Colors goes, I am in the works of creating a studio-event gallery that would function as a community canvas to host different workshops, events, and guest-curated and -juried exhibitions. I want to use my art studio to give a physical space for Among the Colors to carry out its mission statement of connecting the Denver creative community and giving our community a voice on the national stage. I am also starting to write my first cookbook for Among the Colors.
Who do you think will get noticed in the local arts community in the coming year?

I am excited for Dylan Gebbia-Richard’s upcoming January 2017 exhibit at RedLine.

See Laura Krudener paint live in a pop-up lobby studio at the Four Seasons Hotel Denver from 3 to 5 p.m. Tuesday, October 11, and again on November 11. Admission is free, and a cocktail reception will follow in the EDGE bar.