Laura McKendry

Laura McKendry Artist - Maker - Stories
London, UK

Introducing A Sense of Things ‘26 / Cádiz, the first of five workshops exploring colour, pattern and collections.Tucked ...
11/04/2026

Introducing A Sense of Things ‘26 / Cádiz, the first of five workshops exploring colour, pattern and collections.

Tucked inside the old walls of the southern Spanish city of Cádiz is this treasure. Museo del Titere. A calm space filled with colourful puppets from around the world. It’s ripe for inspiring character design, including mixing up elements from different puppets which I loved doing in preparation for this first workshop in a few weeks time.

Images created in a sketchbook using watercolour, household emulsion paint, lino and found object printing, and colour pencil - all covered in the workshop.

A Sense of Things: Colour, Pattern & Collections / Cádiz, Spain
7-11 May (sold out)
24-28 Sept (limited availability)

Details via link in profile.

Playing and planning with in Rotterdam this past week. Making things bigger and smaller and trying to crack the awkward...
02/03/2026

Playing and planning with in Rotterdam this past week. Making things bigger and smaller and trying to crack the awkwardness of chairs.

Back in June and August for 2026 workshops - A Sense of Things: Colour, Pattern & Collections / Netherlands.

Gathering, collecting, cutting, editing. Finding shapes and carving them into lino (or cutting them out of paper) has br...
12/02/2026

Gathering, collecting, cutting, editing.

Finding shapes and carving them into lino (or cutting them out of paper) has brought a gentler pace this winter, a calm focus whilst the rain pounds. I’m enjoying the careful craft of it.

This year’s workshop programme introduces lino printing, along with sessions in drawing, painting and mixed media. It combines printing graphic shapes with looser painting, exploring ways to play with pattern and build collections.

A Sense of Things: Colour, Pattern & Collections
/ Copenhagen / 10-14 July 2026

One place remaining. More info in bio.

Using pattern and shape to play with an assortment of objects inspired by recent visits to Copenhagen and . Printing wit...
04/02/2026

Using pattern and shape to play with an assortment of objects inspired by recent visits to Copenhagen and . Printing with 1950’s Danish blocks and rusty sections of Meccano, along with lino cut into all kinds of nonsense. A collection of chairs drawn with sticks and pipettes, wobblier than the real artefacts.

Some of this will make its way into my forthcoming workshop ‘A Sense of Things: Colour, Pattern & Collections’ / Copenhagen / 10-14 July 2026.

Final two places remaining. More information in bio.

These past couple of years I’ve found immense satisfaction in mentoring artists at various stages of their creative deve...
24/10/2025

These past couple of years I’ve found immense satisfaction in mentoring artists at various stages of their creative development.

Each person invariably brings their own style and ideas for how they want to progress. Some are looking for practical skills or support in establishing a regular creative habit. Others are seeking motivation to publish a book or the confidence to hold their first public exhibition. All these, and many things in between.

Mentoring is a constant reminder to me that, at whatever stage - complete beginner or ‘established’ artist - the creative process is not straightforward and we all benefit from useful conversations from time to time. It’s a privilege to be asked to share in making sense of these moments.

A range of work created by:

1. Jenny, UK
2. Sarah, UK
3. Anja, Germany
4. Quinn, Utah USA
5. Julia, France
6. Grace, California USA
7. Yanti, UK .hashim
8. Renata, Dublin Ireland
9. Katie, France

Thank you to everyone who generously (and bravely, in some cases) shared their work and feedback. For more information on mentoring visit the link in my profile and then drop me an email.

I was asked by .org.uk to write an article about my route into arts and health as part of their focus on creative educat...
15/08/2025

I was asked by .org.uk to write an article about my route into arts and health as part of their focus on creative education outside mainstream school settings.

“Branching out to work with carers, patients, ex-offenders and healthcare workers has shifted my view of art when lives are at their most difficult.

I’ll admit to having once been cynical about art’s purported therapeutic and transformative effects, especially in the face of human extremes of incarceration, chronic illness or terminal diagnosis. With such acute practical, medical or existential needs, I thought, how could creativity offer anything more than frivolous embellishment at best or, at worst, offensive condescension?

This belief shifted as I started to see firsthand that even in the darkest of times, the urge to create can feel as fundamental as any basic practical need.”

Read the full article - Art in Times of Ill Health - via the link in my profile or on the Access Art website https://www.accessart.org.uk/art-ill-health/

Hauling chilled body, euphoric, up slimy metal steps, pulling on rope-bound ladder. Back muscles exerting, pink flesh of...
05/08/2025

Hauling chilled body, euphoric, up slimy metal steps, pulling on rope-bound ladder. Back muscles exerting, pink flesh of chilly bums emerging magnificent from the pond. A dog-shake at the top, a gloved hand clap, a stretch, a smile at the ones just entering the water.



I’m exploring places for workshops for 2026!Next week I’ll be in Copenhagen for a personal trip and would like to use it...
19/07/2025

I’m exploring places for workshops for 2026!

Next week I’ll be in Copenhagen for a personal trip and would like to use it as a chance to research potential spaces.

If you have a venue or an idea for a place that might be a good fit - somewhere interesting, creatively stimulating, environmentally nourishing - please let me know. Yes, I’m looking at Copenhagen next week. But I’m also curious about places across Europe and further afield as part of series of events for next year.

If you kindly shared suggestions when I posted about this last year, thank you. I have these in a very long list which I’ll be revisiting.

For specific practical requirements, see comments below. 👇

Thank you!

‘This one’s been here all week’‘How do you know it’s the same one?’‘I recognise the walk. It’s very distinctive. I mean,...
16/07/2025

‘This one’s been here all week’
‘How do you know it’s the same one?’
‘I recognise the walk. It’s very distinctive. I mean, they all have a distinctive walk, but this one in particular.’



She stands on newspaper, talc dusts old headlines as she powders herself dry. Moving slowly, layers quietly drawn. A thr...
04/07/2025

She stands on newspaper, talc dusts old headlines as she powders herself dry. Moving slowly, layers quietly drawn. A threadbare knit, practical trousers, dark green socks, tatty brown brogues that have seen better days. Without chat or eye-contact, spent chippy wrapper scrunched into a ball, she gathers her Bag-for-Life and shuffles away.



The calm regulars, the expletive shouters, the yodelling divers, the take-a-breath and launch off the ladders, down two ...
13/06/2025

The calm regulars, the expletive shouters, the yodelling divers, the take-a-breath and launch off the ladders, down two rungs and glide. The perfected techniques. The motivators ‘Come on, you can do it. It’s fine once you’re in.’ The water treaders who look back, the ones who propel forwards towards the first life ring with steely determination of a task in hand.

There’s ‘This is for world peace’, in a string bikini in the month of November, pinching nose as she leaps with a limb-flailing splash into a coating of leaves; her more-cautious friend in a full body wet suit climbing slowly down the metal steps.

Paired shoes wait.



Rolling down a wet costumeEmulsion paint, oil stick and pencil on paper 297 x 420mm
02/05/2025

Rolling down a wet costume
Emulsion paint, oil stick and pencil on paper
297 x 420mm

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