In 1965 a young artist, P. D’Arcy Laughlin, not content with regular art forms, created her own medium. She developed a secret method and formula for making stains and painting on wood with brushes, knives, and fingers, giving a similar effect to inlaid wood but with more detail and versatility. Descriptions and even photographs do not do her art justice, it has to be seen to be understood.

Each piece of wood is specifically chosen to enhance the design to be painted on it. Several stages in the process of creating this art involves many sandings, scrapings, stainings, hand-rubbings, and protective finishings. Consequently, one piece may take many weeks, or months, or even years, depending on size and details, making this work quite rare as it can only be produced in limited quantities. Unlike other forms of painting where paint can be piled on top of mistakes, no errors are allowed in this art as the wood grabs them and the transparent stains do not hide them. Thus, this work has to be executed with the utmost care and patience.

Deliberately avoiding one restrictive style, Patricia D’Arcy Laughlin has chosen this technique, her brainchild, as the identifying stamp of her work, allowing her free scope to indulge in every subject ranging from abstracts, animals, flowers and sceneries, to people of all nations. She has been acclaimed by many critics as “A Unique Creator,” and written up as “An artist that brings us a really different art work- each painting is truly a Masterpiece.” Award winning, she has exhibited successfully internationally, her work hanging in every corner of the globe. She was educated and also has lived in Trinidad, the Caribbean, the U.K., Canada, and, the U.S.A., which has been her home since 1979.

The above are excerpts from articles written by international art critics.

Black Tie Magazine (1998)

Patricia D’Arcy Laughlin is on the cover of Black Tie Magazine and featured in an article titled “Going Against the Grain.”