I first meet abstract artist Lauren Mycroft when she opens the door to her home with her eight-month-old son on her hip. He stares wide-eyed at me as she welcomes me in.

91裸聊视频淗e just woke up,91裸聊视频� she says with a smile, smoothing down his bedhead. Babe is soon bundled into a backpack and sent out into the yard with dad to take care of the ever-growing piles of leaves carpeting the grass, and Lauren leads me into her studio. It91裸聊视频檚 a new space for her, she tells me; they just bought the 130-year-old farmhouse this past summer.

The farmhouse may still have a hint of that just-moved-in vibe, but Lauren fits well in her high-ceilinged studio, and it in turn is infused with her. A stack of finished and in-progress canvases leans against the back wall; the floor is a glorious spatter of paint in myriad hues. Glass jars full of well-loved brushes line the fireplace mantel like bouquets of wildflowers.

As someone looking in, it91裸聊视频檚 easy to assume she91裸聊视频檚 always been at home as a painter. But for much of her early life, she knew she had a creative streak, but was never quite sure where it fit.

Lauren attended art school 91裸聊视频� studying both at and 91裸聊视频� but it wasn91裸聊视频檛 until well after she91裸聊视频檇 graduated that she found her niche. Much of her time in school was spent just learning to paint, she says, with plenty of figurative and landscape pieces, and her last year was particularly difficult as she tried to find her place.

With a close family member91裸聊视频檚 illness and other struggles in her personal life, Lauren had a hard time with the sometimes harsh, daily critiques and high-energy demands of school. She took a break from painting for a few years after graduating, and it wasn91裸聊视频檛 until she did an abstract collage class that everything fell back into place.

91裸聊视频淚t just clicked,91裸聊视频� she says. 91裸聊视频淚 felt like, this is what I91裸聊视频檓 supposed to be doing.91裸聊视频�

Then a close friend who was an interior designer commissioned her to do two pieces, and 91裸聊视频渢hat91裸聊视频檚 where it all started.91裸聊视频� She balanced her day job 91裸聊视频� as a career advisor in the mental health field 91裸聊视频� with her art, but soon found herself inundated with commissions. Looking at her body of work, it91裸聊视频檚 not hard to imagine why her pieces were in demand. There91裸聊视频檚 a fluidity to them that91裸聊视频檚 incredibly appealing, as is the way she harmonizes colours.

Her website describes her painting as 91裸聊视频渁bstract works [that] reference organic shapes using complex layers and staining,91裸聊视频� using a 91裸聊视频渃ontemporary palette and methodical layering technique.91裸聊视频�

Each piece develops almost as a dialogue between Lauren and the paints and dyes, with each mark influencing the one that comes after, until a complex and textured whole emerges.

91裸聊视频淚t91裸聊视频檚 very process driven91裸聊视频� she says. 91裸聊视频淚t91裸聊视频檚 very reactionary. It really forces you to let go.91裸聊视频�

A trio of linen-based works leaning against the studio91裸聊视频檚 far wall catch my eye. Striking combinations of magenta, a rich peacock green-blue and splashes of sepia stand out. Linen offers its own challenges compared to canvas, says Lauren. The palette has to complement the darker background (as opposed to working on white), the linen finish has a different relationship with the paints and dyes and it91裸聊视频檚 riskier. If the process doesn91裸聊视频檛 yield an end result Lauren91裸聊视频檚 happy with, there91裸聊视频檚 no painting over and starting from scratch.

These particular pieces are also much smaller than Lauren91裸聊视频檚 usual, which is why she91裸聊视频檚 been working on them.

91裸聊视频淚 never paint small, so I91裸聊视频檝e been trying to do as many small pieces as I can,91裸聊视频� she says.

Her determination to keep her skills fresh and stretch outside her comfort zone is evident.

Becoming a mom has kept her on her toes artistically as well, in that she91裸聊视频檚 had to redefine how she approaches her studio schedule.

91裸聊视频淚 really find I91裸聊视频檓 a lot more efficient with my time since I had him,91裸聊视频� says Lauren, who makes time in the evenings to work, and has someone come once a week for child minding. 91裸聊视频淚 love my time with him, and I love being in my studio.91裸聊视频�

Finding her way back to art through abstract painting helped lead Lauren to where she is now, a new mom, in a new home, with a renewed commitment to full-time art, and she91裸聊视频檚 found a balance point between it all.

91裸聊视频淚 think if someone had asked me 10 years ago what I wanted my life to be, I91裸聊视频檇 have said I want to live in a really old house, with someone I love, [with] my child, my two dogs and with a great studio space,91裸聊视频� she says.

Her art has also helped her transform her inner critic into something constructive.

91裸聊视频淚f you91裸聊视频檙e a creative person, you probably have an unkind voice in your head,91裸聊视频� she says with a laugh. 91裸聊视频淚t91裸聊视频檚 hard when someone doesn91裸聊视频檛 like a painting, but it91裸聊视频檚 harder when I don91裸聊视频檛. I just remind myself it91裸聊视频檚 a process. It91裸聊视频檚 being ok with the piece when it takes a different direction.91裸聊视频�

91裸聊视频淚91裸聊视频檝e learned a lot about myself through painting abstractly,91裸聊视频� she adds: about her ability to let go of the end result, about the need to control the critic that91裸聊视频檚 within all of us, of wanting things to look a particular way.

91裸聊视频淎lthough it91裸聊视频檚 my passion, painting has not always been an easy path for me; there91裸聊视频檚 nothing that gives me as much anxiety and pure joy at the same time.91裸聊视频�

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- Story by Angela Cowan

Story courtesy of , a Black Press Media publication
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