Like many successful professionals, Laurie Kampe loves her job, gets up at 6 a.m. and works hard every day.

While pursuing a successful career in design, 43-year-old Kampe has been recognized by the Smithsonian Institute and has worked for prestigious firms across the country.

During the Internet boom, Kampe was working 50 to 80 hours a week as a highly sought-after Web designer and an information architect. She was well compensated for her talents.

In 2004, she quit.

"I walked away at the height of my career," Kampe said. "I wanted to start over. My heart wasn't in it and I was having physical problems. It was time to go on."

With a degree in art from the University of Wisconsin, Kampe had always collected art supplies and had dabbled in fine arts in college.

Gaining encouragement and confidence from some friends and colleagues at the Art Student League of Denver, and with the backing of her husband, Fred and early collectors, Kampe turned her back on the corporate world and devoted herself to oil painting full time.

"I just show up in this room and see what happens," Kampe says of her studio, a space that formerly housed a sunken living room a few steps down from her kitchen of her Centennial home. "That's how simple it has become."

Kampe's studio contains several easels holding large paintings, a rolling cabinet with paint and supplies and a large table covered with charcoal sketches that form the basis for her paintings.

Often she works on several paintings at a time with Beethoven or Mozart providing the background music and her collie Denver providing a bit of company.

Kampe stresses that her paintings are "all about shape and movement, light and dark, almost like a (musical) composition."

Kampe works until about 2 or 3 p.m. "I'm a studio painter. I like to work in solitude."

At night, she studies art. "If I'm not painting, I'm usually thinking about it or reading about it," she said.

As for her change in lifestyle and the perks of corporate life, "Money doesn't sway me right now, I'm going for it and we'll see what happens," Kampe said. " I have people ask me, 'will you design my Web site or logo?' and the answer is no."

Kampe rented a cabin in Fairplay for three months about a year and a half ago and dedicated herself to her craft.

"It was a real breakthrough ... a search and a struggle," she said.

"If you think too much, it will limit you, Kampe said. "A lot of people want to make major changes in their lives; there are so many creative people. I worried about money more then than I do now ... I'm living a much more simple life without an immediate financial reward."

You can see Kampe's work at www.lauriekampe.com.