Laura's Bio

I was born in the small, rural town of Greenfield, Indiana, in the Midwestern United States. In my childhood memories, there was always a cow somewhere. Our home sat on a plot of land surrounded by pastures, and my grandfather owned a cattle farm where we spent most holidays fishing, swimming, wandering through the woods, and climbing hay bales in the barns. My country upbringing was idyllic, and I believe it shaped much of who I am today.  

I started drawing and painting when I was ten years old and have focused on little else ever since. I studied art at Indiana University, then worked as an illustrator and graphic designer in Chicago. It was there that I met my husband, and together we had two little girls. In 2000, we moved to Tel Aviv, Israel, for his work. The Holy Land was a long way from the Heartland.  

It took me a long time to find my place in Israel, and in many ways, I never truly settled in. The acceptance I found—the space I made—was through my art.  

In Israel, we had one more daughter, and my three girls enjoyed a wonderful childhood growing up in the village of Neve Tzedek in Tel Aviv. When they were little, I started making them fancy clothes, dolls, puppets, and costumes—things that, 25 years ago, didn’t really exist in Israel. This led me to open a children's store in Neve Tzedek, where we lived and where the girls went to school. I called the store Burch & Daughters. My seamstresses and I created costumes that were coveted all over Israel. My girls were part of the process—they came to the store after school, did their homework there, played, helped with customers, and even modeled the toys and costumes for photo shoots. It was a way to share time with them while also exposing them to my art and culture.  ​​