Biography

Lawrence Jolly is an accomplished studio artist who lives and works in Round Rock, Texas. As the former owner of Austin graphic design firm Jolly Design, he is a graduate of UT/Austin with a BFA in Design. Lawrence is the recipient of the 2016 City of Austin People's Choice Award, Austin ArtBoards winner, and subject of numerous other shows and exhibits at galleries across Central Texas and the US. His work connects through visual allegory our spiritual and natural selves in richly rendered oil paintings and mixed-media pieces. 

Lawrence has taught painting from his studio, the Georgetown Art Center, and the Neill Cochran House Museum. He has served on the Board of Directors of Georgetown Art Works, Imagine Art, and in various capacities within church, neighborhood, and refugee assistance organizations. His passions include motorcycling, biking, F3 workouts, RV travel, fostering Golden Retrievers, and spoiling gorgeous grandkids.

Artist's Statement

In a sort of quasi-surrealist style I call “Contemporary Narrative Realism”, my paintings tell stories by blending representational content with stylistic adventurism. Think Dali meets modern Rockwell. 

My recent body of work includes tactile and dimensional artifacts acquired through various life endeavors integrated with the painted canvas. I used to think of my paintings and dimensional works as sort of separate movements, but over time they began to reflect and feed off one another to the point where now most of my work employs multiple media, in multiple ways. 

My art, regardless of medium, seeks to define in the painted image and in the repurposed artifact, the connection between humanity and divinity, nature and spirit. I want my work and the creative process inherent in it to nurture this—to surprise, delight, challenge, inspire, and generally reflect the work of the Creator in and through me. I’m often surprised to discover unintentional hidden meaning, life lessons, or certain undercurrents reflecting divine presence in my work.