In 1985 she began to pursue art on a full-time basis and to paint what she loved best...The animals of the forest. Since that time, Laura has won a number of awards and gained extensive recognition for her realistic portrayal of wildlife.

Most recently she won the Pennsylvania State Conservation Print Competition for the third time (1991, 1997, 1999), won the overall Best Of Show award at the 1999 Natureworks show in Tulsa, Oklahoma, was the 1998 Featured Artist at the National Wildlife Art Show in Kansas City and was the Featured Artist in the May/June, 1998 Issue of Wildlife Art News Magazine.

Some past awards include:

Laura was also selected by New York Waterfowl, USA to produce their "First Of State" conservation print. Working exclusively in acrylic, she recently completed work for "The Conservation Treaty Support Fund" to produce a limited edition leather bound, gold-embossed coffee table book which will be sold world wide to raise funds for CITES (Convention For The Investigation Of Trade In Endangered Species), a Swiss-based organization sanctioned by the United Nations to monitor all trade in endangered flora and fauna world wide. She was one of seventeen North American artists selected to work on the paintings to be showcased in the book. She was selected by White-Tail Unlimited to produce their 1995-96 National companion print.

Laura won the 1997 "Working Together For Wildlife" Pennsylvania State conservation print competition for the 2nd time.

As a tribute to her father's influence, Laura continues to sign her original paintings using her maiden name, "Mark".