Laura majored in Studio Art at Hamilton College. The Art Department there was mostly focused on the world of contemporary painting. While everyone else was doing abstract paintings, she was doing traditional, turn-of-the century-style portraits. She got her B.A. in art in 1980.

After graduating from a commercial art school, Laura worked for several years as a graphic designer, art director, and commercial illustrator. Then she discovered the Arts and Crafts Movement of the turn of the last century. She was taken with its ideals, and was especially struck by the similarity between her art and the styles of many of the artists associated with that movement. She was accepted as a Roycroft Renaissance Artisan in 1995, and elevated to Master Artisan two years later. Also in 1995 she learned printmaking at Nazareth College, and has been creating mulitcolored, handmade, limited edition block prints ever since. The prints strongly resemble posters and landscape prints of a century ago. In addition to the printmaking, Laura is also very busy with commissioned work, which includes creating graphic designs, portraits, house portraits, and pet portraits in the styles of the early twentieth century. The prints and commissioned work are all a part of her business, named "Period Style Artwork."