Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Lauren Lewchuk. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Lauren, appreciate you joining us today. Do you wish you had waited to pursue your creative career or do you wish you had started sooner?
It’s easy to say that I wish I had started much sooner in my creative career than I actually did… basically I wish that I believed it was possible and that I didn’t let people convince me that being an artist wasn’t reasonable. Letting people convince me that I needed to have a “real job” and do art on the side is what made me wait so long. I barely even believed that being an artist was possible when I was in college… I ended up majoring in graphic design because it was perhaps the “closest” thing to being an artist. I think a lot of people have gone down that road as a sort of compromise. Don’t get me wrong, graphic design definitely has come in handy since then and always will, but I do wonder how different things would have been if I went to art school and focused on painting (not that that’s entirely necessary). But after college I ended up going after the “real jobs”. I was a receptionist at a sign company for a couple years (which I absolutely hated), then I was a screen printer for several years at that same company. After that I worked at a prop shop for a while. And while I did learn some cool and useful skills at those jobs, it was nearly 12 years of me not doing what I had always wanted to do and I felt empty and depressed a lot of the time. It wasn’t until I was “let go” from my last “real job” when I started getting very serious about my artwork. It’s only been a couple years but at this point I’ve been painting full time and it feels great to finally be doing what I’ve always felt I was meant to do. That’s not to say it’s always easy, but so far it’s been worth it. I would also add that even though I wasn’t focused on art during those twelve or so years, I was still creating, and that time helped me to experiment and eventually develop my current artistic style.
Lauren, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?
I am primarily a fine art painter, illustrator, and muralist. I’ve been focused on art full time for almost a couple years now but I made my emergence as an artist about a year prior to that. I started out participating in various group exhibitions and I even won first place in one of my first exhibitions in 2019.
My style is very detailed, colorful, and abstract botanical or even a bit psychedelic. Some pieces are more representational than others but my main inspirations are nature and music. I like zooming in on different plants, animals, etc taking various shapes and textures and sort of rearranging them into new objects or imaginary worlds. I like to create hyper detailed and colorful compositions that people can get lost in. Sometimes the inspiration or the elements used are obvious and sometimes they are not. There doesn’t always have to be an explanation for a painting or piece of art, sometimes I prefer it to be more of an experience that cant really be named or fully explained.
So far most of my paintings are on wood or canvas using primarily acrylic paint or sometimes spray paint. My process is also mostly intuitive, meaning I don’t have a solid plan and I just create as I go. This applies to basically everything I do whether it’s a canvas painting or a large-scale mural. For murals I’ll often create a digital concept and only use it as a guide (this is what I prefer).
I can also work digitally and recently I created designs for an exclusive fabric collection with Joann Stores. This was a huge deal for me because I have wanted to turn my artwork into patterns and this opportunity was a great foot in the door as far as textile design. I would love to eventually see my work on clothing as well.
My style is pretty versatile. I can create a painting, mural, or pattern with so many different themes or color schemes. People often ask for a coral reef or floral inspired work for example, or something more psychedelic and abstract… when working with a virtually infinite amount of shapes, colors, and details to create such elaborate compositions, I feel like I am able to offer something unique and eye catching.
What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?
My main goal or mission in my creative journey isn’t super specific… it’s mostly just to create, be myself, and make a living doing what I love to do. I want to prove to myself and to others that it’s possible. I’ve waited a long time to start my career as an artist and I feel I owe it to myself to keep on creating and sharing it with the world (as cliche as that sounds) whether it’s paintings, large murals, sculptures, etc. I have so many ideas and different things I want to try that I haven’t even attempted yet. I want to see my artwork in so many different places and for people to feel connected to it or moved by it.
How can we best help foster a strong, supportive environment for artists and creatives?
To put it simply; Respect artists and pay them what they deserve. There is still the whole “starving artist” narrative that makes people take total advantage of artists and assume that artists will do all kinds of work for free or for “exposure”. There are even artists who believe that narrative themselves and take on jobs for free or very low pay. Doing jobs for free will only likely get you more jobs for free because you are teaching people that you don’t value your work. And to non-artists and collectors, do not ask for or expect discounts. It’s funny how society will teach artists that they’ll never make any money as artists while at the same time asking for discounts or free work…
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.artbylewchuk.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/art_by_lewchuk/?hl=en
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LEWCHUK/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lauren-lewchuk-aa443594/