At Laura Bucci Handmade inspiration comes from seeing the world through images and text. I’m a Vancouver-based mixed-media artist working with fabric and paper. My line includes cup cozies, fabric pins, wall art, and more recently pocket mirrors, and screenprinted journals. I have been inspired by vintage imagery but lately have started using my own images too. The inspiration behind my work comes from my culturally varied background. Moving from country to country was exciting but also challenging as I tried to speak the new language and move around the new culture. Life began in Toronto (Canada), followed by various locations in Italy, Lybia, Malta, back to Italy, and finally back to Canada when I was 16 – specifically Vancouver but not before Sudbury. Communication was certainly a challenge many a times. I remember a high school boy in Sudbury asking my sister and I if we were mad. Really? Was he asking us if we were crazy? How rude! Perhaps that's why in my 20s I took refuge in the fine arts. Focusing on images rather than language was more comfortable. Nevertheless, language acquisition has always been a major and important part of my life. Today I speak Italian, English, and Spanish and a touch of French. Eventually I found myself in a classroom teaching Italian and English as a Second Language. I wanted to really dig in and I wanted to share my passion with new language learners and immigrants. I draw inspiration from my love of culture, language and vintage imagery to create image/text compositions in various languages. Whether on a cup cozy, a pocket mirror, or a wall art panel my aim is to draw you in for a moment to reminisce and reflect.