Rachel Garlin w/ Joni Laurence

Art in the cafe...

Laurel Statz


"The Spectator"


December 2025



Laurel Statz is a painter and Madison area native. Her work, while figurative, is influenced by abstraction and minimalism. The paintings often have a quick and instinctual nature, capturing just what’s needed. While she often times herself to eliminate extra details and over-precision, she has ventured into more detailed works as well. Laurel does not attach narrative to her pieces. Rather, she thinks of them like a journaling process for her scatter-brained psyche. The figures in the pieces are meant to be processing tools for the artist and the viewer. She hopes that seeing these figures helps the...
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Friday, May 6, 2005

Berkeley's Rachel Garlin was last year's winner of the Newport Folk Festival Talent Search. She brings insightful story songs from her latest release, Big Blue Sky, recorded live at the Freight and Salvage.

Joni Laurence, based in Champaign, IL, recently leaped out of her day job at the University of Illinois into the world of a touring musician. Laurence---s slender form and shy persona belie the tough artist inside who---s willing to take on issues in song with a demanding delicacy.

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