From Laurel:
I was fortunate enough to grow up in a family that heavily valued time in nature, whether it be in the woods, wetlands, mountains, or our own backyard. I learned to forage edible plants in early childhood, and was passed down a passion for conserving native species. My father especially cared for native pollinators and the often endangered plant species they rely on.

Now I find most of my inspiration for my paintings and illustrations while on adventures around the Pacific Northwest. Around 2013 I started learning to ID mushrooms as well as plants, and now they’re both special interests, you could say.

As for art - I feel like I’m one of the fortunate ones who never let it leave my life. Almost all of us draw and paint and craft as kids, but not all of us get parents and grandparents and other family members who support that journey continuing.
From 2005-2010 I studied in Corvallis Oregon with watercolorists Marjorie Kinch and Mark Allison.
Then around 2017, I fell in love with gouache as a medium.

I formed Understory Art Studio LLC in early 2025 in hopes of focusing down on two of my biggest joys in life: illustration and native wildlife.
Native plants, pollinators, and other species need our help; and we need them. I hope my work can help with combatting plant blindness. In order to protect something you must first love it, or at least understand it, right?

Thanks for visiting my website.

-Laurel Thompson