Check Out Seth LaGrange’s Story

Today we’d like to introduce you to Seth LaGrange.

Hi Seth, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I have loved animals since before I can remember and have had all manner of pets throughout the years. When I was little I was notorious for bring snakes and turtles inside the house and keeping them as pets much to the dismay of my mother and sister. I also have always had a great love of drawing and these two loves meshed together quite nicely as I would fill sketchbooks with drawings of wildlife. My favorite book was an art book called “Illustrating Nature” by Dorothea and Sy Barlowe. I would pour over this book trying to draw all the amazing animals within in it. It still sits on my shelf today. As I got older, my two loves grew with me. I took art and biology classes through high school and decided to go to college for Wildlife Biology. I graduated from Purdue University with B.S. in Wildlife and then received my M.S. in Zoology from Southern Illinois University. I worked as a biologist on various projects for nearly 10 years before a move for my wife’s new job left me at a turning point career wise.
I stayed at home with our two youngest children for a little while and then took a job doing something completely outside my area of expertise. It didn’t take long to realize that these two things were not for me. I had always wanted to have my own business and finally came to the conclusion that I should get back to my love of making art. I had done commissions in the past and figured I’d give it a shot. And now here I am working as a full time artist. While still uncertain the future looks bright!

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
It has not been a smooth road to get to where I am now in my art career. For many years I balanced working full time as a wildlife biologist while taking art commissions on the side. I had to stop taking commissions for several years as my job became too demanding. I still made art during that time and tried different avenues for how to make money as an artist. But I think the most challenging times have been during the last 3 years as a full time artist. I have 3 young children and balancing making art and going to art shows while also taking care of my kids has been quite difficult at times. Preparing for art shows is also incredibly time consuming and a lot of work. It is tough to spend so much time on my art and preparing for show only for the weather to be bad or for it to just now be a good show for me. In those moments it’s easy to feel discouraged but in the end there’s always another show and you never know how the next one will go. Just this past weekend I had my best show ever so you just have to keep going and putting your work out there. You buyers will find you.

Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I am primarily a scratchboard artist. I dabble in other things but the medium I keep coming back to is scratchboard. It is just so unique and can be quite technical which I love. You can also get such great realism and detail which is a lot of fun. I think the uniqueness of scratchboard is what sets me apart especially when I go to art shows as most of the time I am the only scratchboard artist there. I’m most proud of the depth and realism that I can achieve with scratchboard. It is such a fun challenge to try to make every piece more detailed and realistic than the last.

If you had to, what characteristic of yours would you give the most credit to?
Definitely my creativity and ability to really focus in on the details in a piece. I think people see this when they look at my work and it makes them want to have a piece of it.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.lagrangeartistry.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lagrange_artistry
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/smlagrangeartistry