We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Lauren Brooke Miller. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Lauren Brooke below.
Lauren Brooke , thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Has your work ever been misunderstood or mischaracterized?
One of the humbling lessons I’ve learned with sharing my work is how to create meaningful experiences with my ceramic based immersive art and small batch botanicals. Many folks assume that my work with The Healer’s Toolmaker is for healers when actually I create tools to empower and assist anyone working on showing up for their own healing. I believe the most important healer we will ever meet is truly ourselves. If we do not show up for our own healing with dedication and an open heart I believe little healing can actually occur.
So as I’ve embarked on the journey of sharing my unique work I realized that folks often didn’t know what my work was or what it did and also potentially had limited experience with this kind of self care. What I’ve found is that by demonstrating on a model body, demonstrating on a clients body or creating a guided experience has helped people feel more comfortable with the tools and improved sales.
I’ve worked this winter to complete a chair yoga training program and am now leading chair reset yoga classes or tending sessions that focus on lymph and nervous system regulation showing folks self care practices with and without my tools has been an exciting addition to my practice and outreach. I tend to lean towards fine art, wellness or environmental gatherings for pop ups these days saving my energy for these events has really helped direct my focus as an artisan creative.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
I’ve been creating ceramic tools since my first ceramic class at 19. 26 years of creation and I am still learning, making new designs and remain very excited about my work. I have an academic background in fine arts completing a bachelor’s in fine art from the Ohio State University, spending a year of study at the University of New Mexico and completing my masters in fine art from Virginia Commonwealth Universities prestigious VCUarts program. The rigor especially in my masters program ignited post graduation by chronic pain with carpal tunnel brought me to creating tools for the body and healing, focusing on meridian lines to open feeling in my hands so I could continue working with clay.
I’ve always been a deeply spiritual person but at the same time I completed my masters i had my first reiki attunement and really focused deeply on wellness and healing myself and learning as much as I could about energy work, acupuncture, body work, yoga and folk herbalism.
As my journey in life unravels I solve a lot of things in the studio and my work is a direct reflection of that thinking process. I’ve been growing my work for over a lifetime. Every design is special to me and a continuation of my spiritual and creative practice.
I’m deeply proud each and every time a client tells me how meaningful a tool is for them or how a botanical created ease and joy in their daily life. It is my hearts calling to watch folks find their own voice in their healing journey.
Is there mission driving your creative journey?
Now that I am more focused with a variety of tool models and staple botanicals I am really working hard to find more opportunities to allow me to pop up and share immersive experiences that you can take home not only an object I created but a lived experience and knowledge. I deeply believe in the work I am doing and am working to find the best niche markets and opportunities to share my work.
I am also extremely excited to create these experiences for not just women but as a genderless wellness offering. My mission is to be both safely sustainable creating and sharing my work but to find populations eager to learn and share my work. I feel like I’m just getting started finding my audience and it’s an exciting time as this work can also be shared online as well as in person in a gentle, meaningful way.
In your view, what can society to do to best support artists, creatives and a thriving creative ecosystem?
I truly believe the best marketing is grassroots sharing of work you love. When people are touched by my work they often share and want to gift it to loved ones. People truly understanding the depth and benefit for body and spirit of my work has helped me sell more than beautiful write ups or photos. Sharing your authentic experience is powerfully especially for me and the innovative, immersive work I’m making.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.thehealerstoolmaker.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thehealerstoolmaker?utm_source=qr
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/share/14ifzmMSzDC/?mibextid=wwXIfr
Image Credits
Profile Photo: Amanda Mae Taylor
Content Photos: Jon Ebright