About The Artist

 

 

Hello — I’m Laura Mitsu, a self-taught abstract artist based in Oakland, California.

 

Before returning to art, I spent a decade working in professional kitchens as a line cook and sous chef in Southern California and New York City. Though I loved the creativity of cooking, I eventually felt burnt out and disconnected from myself. Stepping away from that world led me back to painting, and what began as a quiet return to creativity soon became an essential and deeply fulfilling form of self-expression.

 

Working from my studio in Oakland, I create original paintings on canvas and paper, guided by curiosity, intuition, and experimentation. My process — shared in more depth in The Heart Behind My Work section — is centered on presence, emotion, and flow.

 

My paintings have been featured in print, online, and in juried exhibitions across the San Francisco Bay Area, and are held in private collections throughout the United States and abroad. In 2025, I was selected to exhibit with ArtSpan at Superfine Art Fair and invited to show my work at San Francisco City Hall. The previous year, I debuted my first solo exhibition of abstract paintings and poetry, Poetic Abstraction, at the former 2358 MRKT Gallery in San Francisco.

 

If you love art and poetry, let’s connect.