Though born in Baltimore, MD, impressionistic painter Andrea La Vigne has lived most of her life in Jacksonville, TX. Surrounded by her grandfather’s paintings since birth, she has always been interested in art. Her parents recognized her interest and gifts early on and have always encouraged her creative pursuits. At the age of 8 she bought her first set of oil paints and has painted and studied seriously since, adding acrylics to her arsenal in high school. Though she studied art for three years in high school, including a year of independent study in painting, and has taken a few workshops, she is primarily self-taught through studying books and a lot of trial and error.

After high school she studied music with a concentration in piano performance at the College of Notre Dame of Maryland in Baltimore; University of Texas at Tyler; and Lon Morris College in Jacksonville, TX, where she received her Associate of Fine Arts degree in 1996. While at LMC she was inducted into the Phi Theta Kappa International Honor Society. When the onset of schizophrenia interrupted her college studies and made it difficult to process music, she turned to visual art. She found it easier to create visual images, since she finds them to be more concrete than the auditory images of music.

She has participated in numerous shows, including the VSA Arts/Austin-Bergstrom International Airport show in 2004-05 (Austin, TX), Arts on the Hill III and IV in 2005 and 2006 respectively (Kansas City, MO), Connections 2: An International Juried Art Exhibit in 2005 (Toronto, Ontario), and VSA Arts of Texas‘ Labor of Love show in 2005 (various locations). She continues to pursue exhibit opportunities. She is an active member of the Mineola League of the Arts, Imagine Art, Henderson County (TX) Art Club, and Palette of Roses Art League. She has volunteered teaching drawing techniques to elementary students. She has also give demonstrations in both painting and linoleum-block printmaking.

Although she grew up primarily in a small town, she has traveled extensively since childhood. She has visited many sites throughout the eastern half and panhandle regions of Texas, as well as the Mid-Atlantic and Southern states, western U.S., and Canada. These travels have influenced her greatly, exposing her to many different geographies and cultures.