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Lauren Barksdale Hill seems to have an innate sense about parlaying her artistic chops into sustainable business ventures. In 2003, she launched Elle Alexandra stationery, a successful line of note cards and invitations sold in stores nationwide and through her Web site. And in the past few years, she has become one of Baton Rouge’s best-known visual artists.

Her studio is a testament: It’s chock-full of canvases of landscapes, nudes, abstracts, birds and more, recognizable by Hill’s signature cool hues and soft lines. Some canvases lie on sawhorses, others are propped on easels. Still others lean against walls. Working alone often for 10-hour stretches, she moves from one work in progress to the next until the paintings achieve what she intends. “It’s harder with abstract pieces,” she says. “Sometimes I think I’m finished, and then I might go back a month later and work on one again. Some of those have ended up being my favorites.” This time of year, Hill works furiously to prepare for the holiday season’s flurry of shows and commissions.

Once a pre-med major at LSU and a self-admitted math-and-science-type, Hill says she never believed she could make a living from art. Painting had been a personal passion, instilled early on in secret studio sessions with her grandmother, Mickey Barksdale, also an artist.

She majored in art at LSU, and achieved top honors as a student. But it wasn’t until she showed her work after graduation that Hill was compelled to go for it. “I didn’t want to do anything else,” she says. A minor in Business Administration had given Hill enough accounting and marketing to feel confident about the practical side of her new venture. She began networking with galleries nationwide, forging relationships with anyone who would listen—and selling pieces.

While she still shows in Destin, Fla., New Orleans and Jackson, Miss., Hill has stepped back from traveling to focus more attention on her work and on the local market. Her pieces hang at Dixon Smith Interiors among other outlets, and she’s active in the local arts scene. “It’s changed so much,” she says. “It’s a great place to be an artist.”

Age: 28

What is your best business advice? “Do what you love and do it the best you can. And, my father always told me, put your goals down on paper.”

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