SHE’S GOT YOU: HOW A LESBIAN ROMANCE LED TO AN OUTPOURING OF AMERICANA ART

S H E ’ S G O T Y O U S H E ’ S G O T Y O U S H E ’ S G O T Y O U an Outpouring of Americana Art How a Lesbian Romance Led to

by Addison Herron-Wheeler

Art courtesy of Laura Goodson

When Laura Goodson first started painting, it wasn’t because she felt a higher calling or was desperate to earn a living as an artist—she just wanted to get the girl. When she started dating local, Houston badass Magen Pastor, she knew she needed to be impressive. “She is really plugged into the art scene in Houston,” Goodson explains. “And so, when we first started dating, we were going to a lot of art shows, and I quickly realized that she was gonna lose interest in me if I didn't have some sort of creative engagement with her. And so, I quickly was like, ‘Oh, I'll paint you a piece.’ So, I went and went to an art store to get some canvas and paint. I had never painted before, but was inspired because I wanted to get a girl.”

Then, when Goodson went home and started painting, something magical happened. It wasn’t just about getting the girl anymore. She started painting cowboys, since that’s what she had learned to draw as a child. Starting with nothing but a cowboy hat on each illustration, the people she drew began to come to life. “The whole cowboy thing came about because of my grandfather, who was really influential in my life,” Goodson says. “When I was really little, he taught me how to draw a cowboy hat and nothing else. And so, for whatever reason, it stuck with me whenever I had the chance to be creative. It was like the one thing I knew how to do. And so I started there, and I think a lot of the characters are just reflections of people that have been in my life at some point, maybe not this life; it may have been a past life.”

Even though the paintings were compelling, however, she still thought of it as a hobby. Then she began to get attention. “Eventually, I had, like, four or five paintings. Almost immediately, I got asked to do a solo, pop-up show at a leather goods shop. So, I did a pop-up, and I didn't know what I was doing. I hadn’t expected all this; I had initially just wanted to impress somebody.” After that, things began to fall into place. Goodson and Pastor became an official item (though Goodson still jokes that the jury is out on whether or not Pastor is impressed), and Goodson got an offer to move out of her comfort zone working in natural gas to take a major job in Denver in green energy. While relocating to Denver was an extremely tough call to make because Goodson was in love not only with Pastor, but with the family she had found in Pastor’s twin daughters, she realized it was the path the universe wanted her to take. It helped that Pastor pushed her to take the leap. “Thank God for Megan's push, because it got us out here, and the girls are in a wonderful school; my art is doing really well. I've been connected with some awesome folks here, collectors. We were able to get a studio. We've had three or four big art shows at the Dairy Block and in Mexico, and I think it has opened me up creatively in a big big way. I think lifting the heaviness of Texas off was kind of instrumental.” Now, the couple have a studio here in Denver that is perfect for creating and that they one day hope to turn into a space for showing art. They also still have an artist rental cabin in Texas that poses the perfect solution to the COVID art-buying crisis. Instead of having to go look at a busy art show or browseonly online, you can actually go stay at the cabin and pick out the art you want to buy during your stay. “We went out there after we bought the cabin, and we basically just fully reconnected with nature,” Goodson says. “I started painting out there, and we kind of decided that we wanted to give that space to other people because we loved it so much. So, we made it into a shoppable cabin.” Other brilliant ideas to stay relevant include tattoo tickets for folks who want Goodson’s art on their bodies and a Cowboy Country Club, an exclusive group that gets first access to buy Goodson’s work, along with fun freebies like T-shirts and mugs. A ton of collectors are all about Goodson’s work, and some of those collectors, cowboys and Ameriana enthusiasts, are more conservative. But, once they meet Goodson and Pastor, they start to see things differently. Just seeing the love that the couple have for each other, their family, and their community is enough to change hearts and minds. “We've always been this way but even more so now, just like, how can you help someone? And when you walk into the room, I think not what can I get, but how can I help them. And that goes from being in your neighborhood to, you know, the community that you're living in to the bigger global community to the gay community, just all of it.” Visit lauragoodsonart.com to learn more.