Laurel Prucha Moran, Blue Room Studio

Home
United States
Alexandria, VA
Laurel Prucha Moran, Blue Room Studio

Alexandria Virginia oil and watercolor artist Laurel Prucha Moran
Stationery and fine art prints

06/21/2026

The hydrangeas are in full bloom in Alexandria and a lovely friend and neighbor offered her blooms for some new reference photos! (Archie enjoyed taking a different walk and smelling new scents this morning)

Interesting fact, homegrown hydrangeas have much thinner stems than store bought so if you have one of my paintings that has thin stems, the reference hydrangeas were probably from my yard or a neighbor's 😊

06/19/2026

Thought I was almost done with this painting and realized the orange was way too big 🍊. Really happy with the letters on the jar so am putting my brush down and making my TGIF quafftide Manhattan 🥃

06/02/2026

Gave this a glow up : ) I tried something new last fall that didn't work out quite how I wanted. I painted hydrangeas on a dark table. I love the deep hydrangea color but didn't love the dark table and spent the last month reworking the jar and background. Am really happy with it now 😊

(‘Maroon Harvest’ 16x20” oil on linen)

Upcoming Events
* October 3, 2026: Art on the Avenue , Alexandria, Virginia
* October 11-12, 2026: Warwick Art and Sculpture Festival, Newport News, Virginia

05/31/2026

So this is what 31 years with Mike looks like 😉 Great trip! I took a ton of reference photos and may work on some water paintings. Am excited to get back to my easel!

05/30/2026

The breakfasts at Manchebo Beach Resort & Spa are fantastic and served by a group of women who were zippy and cheerful and truly a joy to see first thing in the morning. One of the reasons we chose Manchebo was because they have many vegan options at all their restaurants (as do most restaurants on Aruba which is a big reason why we came to Aruba [vegan Mike ate French fries for a week on our last big vacation to Curaçao so I was thrilled when I figured out how vegan-friendly Aruba is]).

I especially loved their signature chia pudding with a bit of granola and fresh fruit which came topped with a goldenberry, a beautiful fruit enclosed in a papery husk that I will admit was better to paint than eat : )

So I spent my last few hours in Aruba doing just that!

05/29/2026

The Aruba wind may keep you cool but the Aruba sun still burns so I spent one day of our vacation in the Manchebo Beach Resort & Spa yoga pavilion doing another watercolor sketch of the beach which was more successful because I had a table to paint on instead of balancing everything on my legs in a beach lounger. I find it very difficult to paint palm trees without making them look cartoonish but honestly, they really do look cartoonish in real life 🏝️

Read three books while I was on vacation, two on my Kindle and one a real, honest to god book (the Hail Mary Project by Andy Weir which was great but kind of hurt my gin and tonic soaked brain with all the math and science). I usually listen to audiobooks while I paint so it was actually really nice to rewire my brain to reading with my eyes for a week. Will try to keep that up.

05/28/2026

After an AMAZING anniversary dinner at Wilhelmina Restaurant Aruba in Oranjestad, we spent the next day in the street art capital of the Caribbean (Forbes 2019), San Nicolas, in southern Aruba. In the past 10 years, San Nicolas has had a resurgence due in large part to the gorgeous murals painted during the annual Aruba Art Fair each September, organized and led by the amazing people at ArtisA .

I highly recommend this tour (Aruba Mural Tours ). It was informative about both the history of Aruba and San Nicolas (who knew it wasn't a tourist destination until the 1980s and was mainly an oil refinery before that!) and the hidden meanings behind the murals.

The first pic is 'The King of the Streets' by Czech artist and includes historic details like the gold necklace referencing the small gold rush on Aruba, the bat referencing the island's initial value for massive deposits of guano, and the background showing the building blocks that provide ventilation.

The second pic is a mural by Portuguese artist MrDheo of Sarah-Quita Offringa, 28x world windsurf champion and the pride and joy of Aruba.

Third pic is 'Gallo Rojo' by and is a tribute to a beloved 40+ year-old local business of the same name and acts as the signage for the restaurant. It took the artist 3 years to complete this massive mural!

There are dozens more absolutely gorgeous murals throughout San Nicolas and this tour was one of the highlights of our trip. https://arubamuraltours.com/about-us/

After the tour, we went up the coast a bit to Mangel Halto Beach which is surrounded by mangroves and feels like a hidden, secret cove.

05/27/2026

Just got back from celebrating 31 years with Mike in Aruba.
This is the watercolor sketch I did from under our palapa on Eagle Beach at . There is a reason this painting is loose and unfinished. The wind in Aruba is a blessing and keeps the hot sun from feeling too hot but a curse if you're trying to watercolor on the beach 😆 My page kept flipping and my rinse water kept flinging itself to the sand. But oh my goodness, the Caribbean water perfectly matched my Winsor Green (blue shade) paint!

05/15/2026

Blue Room Studio will be closed May 18-28.🏝️

I will be completely off grid. Emails will not be checked and orders will not be fulfilled. But I will return refreshed and ready to paint!

04/30/2026

Thank you Louisville! Met so many lovely people at the Cherokee Triangle Art Fair last weekend and spoke to a ton of young artists (can’t wait to see what they bring to show me next year!) What an amazing event (and the Aperol spritzes in no way sway my fondness for this event 😉)

* THIS WEEKEND: May 2-3, 2026: , Byrd Park, Richmond, Virginia (Booth 208)

Address

Alexandria, VA

Website

http://blueroomstudio.com/

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when Laurel Prucha Moran, Blue Room Studio posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Contact The Business

Send a message to Laurel Prucha Moran, Blue Room Studio: