We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Lórien Eck a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Lórien, appreciate you joining us today. What’s been the most meaningful project you’ve worked on?
In October 2012 I was inspired to combine my passion for painting with my other gifts. I felt excited to see where this spark would take me and my artwork. I began to experiment with a few of my friends and really enjoyed the results and shared their Soul Cosmology™ painting with them. They really enjoyed the experience too!
A soul’s essence cannot be contained in a word, or even a phrase. And so, using my spiritual insight and artistry, I interpret your unique soul qualities/gifts and express them through light, color, texture – from Spirit to matter.
All Soul Cosmology Paintings are fine art originals. I create these paintings with mixed media pigments, fairy dust, natural dyes and/or earth sourced minerals/crystals.
As I’ve evolved as a human, my art has evolved as well and this includes this ongoing project of creating commissioned Soul Cosmology™ paintings for individuals who are on a spiritual path of awakening to their true self and seeking a daily reminder to remind them.
Soul Cosmology Painting is a one-of-a-kind painting that reflects ones’ Soul’s unique beauty, essence and light.
A Soul Cosmology is ‘ones essence of being or Spirit translated into a fine art painting- Matter-it is a potent reflection of you. It is a mirror and reminder of your bright inner light and Eternal beauty. Engaging daily with this painting, awakens and nourishes. An individual begins to recognize their self again, and open up to receive those most precious aspects of themselves, their true essence, harmony, beauty, personal power, strength, balance, and peace.
Imagine commissioning a Soul Cosmology Painting to…
• Reflect and remind you of your Inner Beauty and Light
• Enhance feelings of inner peace, self-healing, self-empowerment and well-being
• Strengthen a deeper appreciation for your own wisdom, sovereignty and bliss
• Illuminate a more profound recognition of your unique genius and gifts, and of the light that is YOU!
• Validate a more grounded connection to your daily experience of Cosmic Consciousness or Oneness
• Beautify a space with art that translates the language of your Soul
This ongoing project is meaningful for me more than ever as more and more folks are open to and wanting to live with more purpose, be authentic, express their deeper selves and get to know who they truly are on the inside. The journey of self discovery, self care and self love is more of a priority. I am honored and enjoy co-creating a bespoke Soul Cosmology™ painting with an individual to support their growth and provide a powerful tool that they can engage with daily. It’s profoundly healing and powerful.
Lórien, 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 was born in Los Angeles and raised in sunny Laguna Niguel, California where I have again returned to live and work. One of the best things for me about growing up in Southern California is the outdoor lifestyle and for me much of my childhood was spent playing outdoors and at the beach. This lifestyle and appreciation of the natural world has informed my work and has been a huge inspiration to me throughout my life. Another early and lasting influence is travel, from my childhood with family through today. These travel experiences informed my young life with a strong combination of exposure to sophisticated cultural influences and the simplicity of raw beauty through the extremely diverse natural environments.
I was about three years old when I first picked up a paintbrush and still have those abstract paintings from that time! I was exposed to artists and the creative lifestyles artists lead through my family and childhood environment. I’ve always loved making things and inventing new creations to express myself and was very much encouraged to be an original and to be me! Now I am an artist/creative entrepreneur who maintains a thriving art studio where I create my mixed media art, Soul Cosmology™ paintings and teach art online to kids.
In my art practice at Waterfront Studios™, I create original paintings created with the intention for deep healing, meditation and for the elevation of individual and collective consciousness. My signature style is vibrant, textured abstract colors and forms which delight and illuminate the surface in a magical and mystical way. I also offer this through my spiritually textured abstract paintings, in particular with my personalized Soul Cosmology™ Paintings experience. Using my spiritual insight and artistry, I interpret an individual’s unique qualities, into a totally customized, mixed media painting that reflects their Soul’s unique beauty and light. My Soul Cosmology™ Painting is both a service and a product as it serves as a powerful talisman, or symbol of communication reminding my clients of their sacred Self.
Can you share your view on NFTs? (Note: this is for education/entertainment purposes only, readers should not construe this as advice)
I am a fan of technology and about new ways for us artists sharing our artwork with the public. The NFT spaces and Web 3.0 are a natural segue for my art on my path as a contemporary artist. And, what’s so exciting is that I have launched my original mixed paintings as rare NFTs on two different NFT platforms.
A collection of Lórien Eck Art & Design artworks are available on:
MakersPlace- a curated NFT platform.
OpenSea- the largest NFT platform
An an artist and NFT creator, what I see as the value in my currently listed NFTs, are the qualities of digital ownership, identity, scarcity, aesthetics, technology, and utility. What makes an authentic artwork scarce, other than being an authentic physical original, is it’s presence as a digital version, an NFT- and available as a limited editions or as a one off.
Perhaps one of the most important contributors to the growth of value for NFTs is utility. Utility is exciting to imagine and play with as an NFT owner (of course the NFT smart contract terms clarifies about HOW the NFT can be used, for example commercial or non-commercial use). Let’s look at how an owner of one of my art NFTs would be like.
All of my NFT’s are signed (by me) and is a limited edition digital creation including the full non-commercial rights to this creation. The owner may download the unique digital creation and can display it on any digital device or even print out, for personal use. All the while, knowing that one has the authentic piece, verifiable on the blockchain.
Pretty cool.
What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?
There are several rewarding aspects of being an artist, here are a few of my favorites:
1. I get to choose my material/content to explore in my creative life.
One of my most favorite aspects of what I do is the fact that my art practice is a personal laboratory in self-examination and an ongoing research project in what I love, what I value. My original art collections reflect my creative process and the road less traveled that I find myself on steeped in truth, beauty and adventure. I love this quote by Lena Dunham, “As an artist, you get the opportunity to write the world — or create the world — that exists in your fantasies. It’s a really beautiful thing to do.” And this quote by legendary Italian curator Massimiliano Gioni, “Artists are people who do things with images in order to understand the world. They have a fierce desire to know themselves.”
2. I have a secret passion for singing! This is something that just a few people know about ’til now! I used to sing in my classroom and my teenage students were often shocked and caught off guard as they thought, “who does that?” 
I heard something interesting about people and singing. There are three places where folks sing freely, do you know where they are?. 1. in the shower 2. in the car, and 3. drunk karaoke! Let’s change that!
When I am in my studio, I am usually plugged into my Spotify Liked songs playlist!
3. I can make a mess and be outdoors! AND I get to play and it’s super fun! I love making a mess and luckily, I don’t mind cleaning up after! Great fun indeed! The ability to play, to be a child, to lose all sense of self-consciousness and of “doing it right” or having the “correct answer” is one of the rewards of honoring the call to live as an artist in these contemporary times.
4. I can make my own schedule according to the rhythms and cycles of nature. Sunrise, sundown, seasonal changes, daylight savings, planetary shifts and the cycles of the moon. I love all of these changes that we get to experience affecting our daily lighting, moods, temps, and keeping the energies alive and fresh. The ability to be in sync and in harmony with these ever-changing cycles is one of my favorite aspects in keeping my microcosmic creative process in tune with the macrocosmic flow.
5. The art world and the world at large operate on many layers of unspoken and spelled out rules and regulations. One of the best characteristics of being an artist is the fact that although there are these tangible parameters that exist like the art world “market,” art fairs, galleries, critics, etc, bottom line–there is no True North for artists. To walk the path is to create your own. This is what is meant by breaking the “rules,” even those we make for ourselves; to create, innovate, re-invent and be willing to fail and to keep going is part of this journey. One of my favorite quotes on this topic is from Marina Abramović , “When you repeat, you really lose respect for yourself… For me, the studio is a trap to overproduce and repeat yourself. It is a habit that leads to art pollution. Nothing new happens. You don’t surprise yourself. Artists are here to risk, to find new territory. Risk, especially when you are a known artist, includes failing. It is an essential part of process. Failure is healthy for your ego.”
6. I get “free dress” every day, not just sometimes. I love fashion and I love creative self-expression, even if this means wearing an old tank top with worn-in yoga pants and Havaiana flip-flops! One of the best parts of my day in the studio is the freedom I have to wear whatever I please, especially if this means my most functional and comfortable clothes. I have worked in many job settings from corporate to educational institutions and have certainly worn the heels, the stockings, the pencil skirts and dry-cleaned shirts. I loved those days too, and believe me, I will do it when necessary, yet nothing beats comfort and the freedom to move and get dirty without constrictions or limits! Love my painting clothes!
7. I can work from home =smaller carbon footprint.
As an artist, I have mainly worked from a home studio, a designated work space ranging from a small room to an outdoor studio to a garage space. The best part of this setup is the commute is ideal and I feel so much gratitude that I can be green through my choice to work from home. One of my last teaching jobs included a brutal commute during rush hour, round-trip to the far side of downtown Los Angeles. That was certainly the toughest part of my day, waking up at 5am and getting home well past 6pm reminded me of what I truly value in life ~ quality time with my loved ones and less time in a car on the roadways! A friend once said to me, “The quality of your life is reflected in your commute.” Wow.
8. I get to express myself and share my gifts and talents with the world! And, lastly, I feel immense satisfaction from getting to be an artist today. With so many ways to share our creations and expressions through social media outlets, networking and the internet overall, it’s such an easy pleasure to create and know that I can share my artwork with the world without many obstacles or fuss. Success is guaranteed when we share our unknown with our community and keep on creating from our essential truth. I leave you with these inspiring words for the artist in us all from one of my favorite artists of all time.
“Whether you succeed or not is irrelevant — there is no such thing, Making your unknown known is the important thing — and keeping the unknown always beyond you…” — Georgia O’Keeffe
Contact Info:
- Website: http://lorieneck.com/index.html
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lorieneck/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lorieneckartdesign/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lorieneck/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/lorieneck
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/artwithlorien
- Other: SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/l-rien-eck?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=post&utm_campaign=social_sharing
- MakersPlace- a curated NFT platform- https://makersplace.com/lorieneck
- OpenSea- the largest NFT platform- https://opensea.io/lorieneck
Image Credits
AryAdne Woodbridge Photography and Lórien Eck