Meet artist and future dairy nutritionist Laurie Winkelman

Laurie Winkelman was the featured artist on Cow Art and More in July 2009. Laurie grew up on a dairy farm in Wisconsin and showed registered Holsteins and Brown Swiss. She is currently pursuing a PhD degree at Cornell University in dairy nutrition. Laurie's drawing talent has allowed her to capture one her favorite Brown Swiss cows on paper. Laurie is shown here (blue shirt) with one of her Brown Swiss cows.

How did you get started?

My interest in art came early in my life. As a youngster in 4-H, I enjoyed entering drawings and paintings at the county fair. The earliest art competition (and one of the only!) I entered was in grade school at a local bank. My oil pastel drawing won first place, and the subject of the piece, was, no surprise a cow! Then as I entered high school, I spent the majority of my time in the art room taking art classes, working with many different media, including pen and ink, scratch board, pencil, oil pastel, pastel, charcoal, acrylics, watercolor, and ceramics. One of my favorite pieces is a pointillism drawing of an ‘up front and personal’ view of a cow, which I completed during my freshman year of high school in fall of 1995. While I have not had a lot of time since high school (graduated in1999) to draw, I definitely still enjoy it!

Why do you draw?

Drawing gives me a release from the rigors of my day to day ‘job’, which at the current time is as a full-time Ph.D. student in Dairy Cattle Nutrition at Cornell. Drawing gives my left brain a break and keeps my right brain in working order. Additionally, drawing (and other forms of ‘art’ such as graphic design), provide an outlet for my creative side and can be a stress reliever! I really enjoy capturing an animal’s personality in a piece of artwork.

What is your technique?

My technique is rather simple. I generally work from photographs (which I now take myself – for the most part) and recreate the image on paper. In general, I prefer working with dry media – pencil, colored pencil, pastel, charcoal, etc. My favorite media is pencil – mostly because it pencil is relatively cheap and mobile (I’ve moved about 6-7 times in the last 6 years). I really enjoy developing the rich darks with pencils through slow and steady work, layering one layer of pencil over another.

How do you decide what to draw?

My most recent drawings (including Curiosity), were intended to be gifts for my family. A few years ago, I did a drawing of my older sister and me holding two cows that were Intermediate Champion and Reserve Intermediate Champion at the 2004 Wisconsin State Fair and Show, which became a Christmas present for my parents. In 2008, I decided to have prints made of “Curiosity” as gifts for my parents and my sister. “Curiosity” is the first drawing I have ever really made available for sale, and it’s been a fun experience to share my love for drawing and cows. My favorite part of drawing an animal is capturing the eyes of the animal. Animals have so much personality in their eyes. In my opinion, if the eyes are wrong, the whole drawing is wrong.

I have stayed with pencil drawings in the recent years because I have moved around quite a bit in my years since high school. After 4 years at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, I moved to Ohio in 2003 with no art supplies whatsoever. It was easy (and very affordable) for me to quench my thirst for art with a good set of pencils and some paper – which helps to explain my recent fondness for drawing (as opposed to other media).

How long does it take you to get an average drawing?

Recently, it has taken me a really long time to complete drawings. Given my commitment to graduate school and numerous other activities, it is sometimes hard for me to find the time to sit down and focus on artwork and drawing. For example, I started “Curiosity” late in 2006, and then it got set aside when I started my Ph.D. program at Cornell in January 2007.

I worked on it intently during the summer of 2007 for a couple weeks, and then it got set aside as I grew busier with school. I picked it up again with a gusto in fall of 2008 as a way to relieve my brain from the stresses of doing an experiment for my Ph.D. program. I put the finishing touches on the original in December and started the process of having prints made for the first time shortly thereafter. So, all in all, “Curiosity” took nearly 2 years to complete! I tried to start a new piece shortly after completing “Curiosity,” but my school work has kept me on the move.

Do you ever have goof ups or work you don’t like?

Of course! But since I have less and less time to express my creative side with drawing, my goof ups have been fewer and farther between. In general, I like to have the whole drawing mapped out before I really dive in and develop the drawing too far – hopefully avoiding the need to scrap it and start over.

Where did you learn your technique?

While I’ve always had a knack and natural talent for drawing, I certainly had a lot of teaching and encouragement along the way during my education.

Way back in grade school, Mrs. Bertolous was very helpful. In 4-H, Kathy Shields was always willing to teach me new techniques. In high school, Mr.

Felland, Mr. McKeeth, and Mr. Sabol all taught the courses I took to learn new techniques and how to work with different media. I also attended a couple of art camps during high school, which were incredibly fun (and humbling!). At the art camps, it was exciting to be surrounded by lots of other kids with wonderful talent.

Where do you get your inspiration?

Most of my current inspiration stems from my lifetime passion for dairy cows. Growing up and working on a dairy farm is a very central part of my life, and I guess I owe that to my parents who have owned and operated the farm since they were married (also both of my parents grew up on farms). I guess I would also ‘blame’ my sister for my passion about dairy cows. I tagged along with her to dairy judging practice as a youngster, and ever since I was hooked. Actually, I think that having ‘an artistic eye’ was beneficial to me in dairy judging, as I may have been better able to see a cow and imagine the ‘model’ cow in my mind.

What would you like to do more of in the future?

As time permits, I would love to do more drawing and artwork. As I mentioned in an earlier question, drawing provides me a way to de-stress from the pressures and rigors of a very left-brain lifestyle. Down the road, as I settle into a full-time job (at some point!), I hope to find more time to focus on my artwork and developing more and more business opportunities in that area. I am not sure if art could ever be my ‘full-time’ career, but it would be fun if I could make that work!

What else do you do besides your art?

I think the better question would be ‘when do you find time for your art’?

As I mentioned earlier, I am a full-time Ph.D. student at Cornell University, which involves working with cows, doing a lot of work in the laboratory, reading (a lot), and also writing (a lot). I help coach the Cornell Dairy Cattle Judging Team and also volunteer at various dairy youth and 4-H activities in New York State, such as 4-H Dairy Quiz Bowl and NY Jr. Holstein activities. I also serve as an instructor at Badger Dairy Camp, going back to Wisconsin in June for the last 7 years to work with kids in dairy projects. I really enjoy opportunities to work with dairy youth, and it is fun to share my knowledge with them and encourage them to pursue careers in the dairy industry.

Additionally, I write articles for “Hoard’s Dairyman” (a national dairy magazine), classify (evaluate) cows part-time for the Brown Swiss Association, and am a part-time employee for a catering business in Ithaca, NY. Also, I am still somewhat ‘active’ in the family farm in Watertown, WI, Twinkle-Hill Farm (www.twinklehillfarm.com – a site which I designed and maintain). I own quite a few Brown Swiss cows at the home farm and work on the breeding and genetics-side of the business from afar.

Our family shows our cattle at state and national shows, including World Dairy Expo. I love clipping and fitting the cattle to get them ready for the show – in a way, fitting has a slightly artistic side to it too!

In between all of the school, work, and volunteer activities, I really enjoy running, working out, skiing in the winter, and reading books and magazines. I have run 2 marathons and was training for a 3rd marathon this past May – but I got injured about 3 weeks before the race. I am ecstatic to report that I started running again, pain-free, at the end of June!Where do you get your inspiration?

Most of my current inspiration stems from my lifetime passion for dairy cows. Growing up and working on a dairy farm is a very central part of my life, and I guess I owe that to my parents who have owned and operated the farm since they were married (also both of my parents grew up on farms). I guess I would also ‘blame’ my sister for my passion about dairy cows. I tagged along with her to dairy judging practice as a youngster, and ever since I was hooked. Actually, I think that having ‘an artistic eye’ was beneficial to me in dairy judging, as I may have been better able to see a cow and imagine the ‘model’ cow in my mind.How long does it take you to get an average drawing?

Recently, it has taken me a really long time to complete drawings. Given my commitment to graduate school and numerous other activities, it is sometimes hard for me to find the time to sit down and focus on artwork and drawing. For example, I started “Curiosity” late in 2006, and then it got set aside when I started my Ph.D. program at Cornell in January 2007.

I worked on it intently during the summer of 2007 for a couple weeks, and then it got set aside as I grew busier with school. I picked it up again with a gusto in fall of 2008 as a way to relieve my brain from the stresses of doing an experiment for my Ph.D. program. I put the finishing touches on the original in December and started the process of having prints made for the first time shortly thereafter. So, all in all, “Curiosity” took nearly 2 years to complete! I tried to start a new piece shortly after completing “Curiosity,” but my school work has kept me on the move.

What advice to you have for aspiring artists?

I think that I still qualify as an aspiring artist! When I was learning about the process of becoming a ‘published’ artist and having prints made of my drawing for the first time, I really didn’t know where to start. So, I called up a very respected and highly successful agricultural artist studio, Bonnie Mohr’s business in Glencoe, MN, looking for a little help.

While I didn’t talk to Bonnie herself, her employees working there were very supportive and helpful. They suggested a printing company, Hunter Editions in Maine, and I wasted no time in touching base with them to get the process rolling. Since most of my art career has been independent and self-directed, it was really great to get some direction and help from the people at Bonnie Mohr’s studio. So, I guess my suggestion for aspiring artists would be to not be afraid to ask for help or advice.