Laurie Marshall

I am a creator of images and stories. I am a mother of two boys and a grandmother of two boys. I am a Quaker. I live in the San Francisco Bay area, having grown-up in Pittsburgh, PA and raised my children in Rappahannock County, Virginia. The stories and images rise up from my imagination, my love of children and passion for the beauty of this earth.

As a certified K-12 Art and Social Studies teacher, I've focused on the well being of children for forty years, nurturing creativity and purpose. My book, "Beating the Odds Now - Ten Steps to Meet the Standards and Still Love What You Do,"supports project-based learning and the empowerment of children and educators. I believe that children learn best when making real products that come out of real interests for a real audience that have a real impact.

I produced and illustrated De'Ante Webster's story "The Flood of Kindness - Inspired by Hurricane Katrina." He wrote it for a third grade historical fiction assignment. When his mother, Ieshia Webster, sent it to me, I was moved and excited. I looked up Jessica Park on Google because she was so real to me. Then I found out that Dee had made her up, bringing the suffering of Hurricane Katrina to life in a vibrant young character from his imagination. His story honors the hardship of loss and impact on children that big storms have. He also describes the kindness we need to we handle large scale disasters. Because the earth’s atmosphere is warming and there will be more large weather events, I feel an urgency in bringing his story to the world.

I have spent hours looking at pictures of Hurricane Katrina, thinking of the precious lives lost and the hard work that is still going on to rebuild New Orleans. As I have worked on these paintings, I have been afraid that I could not do De’Ante’s story – nor the people of New Orleans - justice. I also think of the big storms that are here and the ones that are coming.