{in the studio: Lauren Noel}

It's really amazing when you meet a person that you feel such an immediate

bond with.  When you and another artist are thinking, feeling, and jiving on

so many levels, really magically things can happen.

That's how I felt from the second that South Florida based artist, blogger, and baker, Lauren Noel, 

welcomed me into her beautiful home.

Her two curly headed little boys ran to the door to greet the boy and I,

and then her older son dragged us through the house giving us the grand tour with 

such intelligence, excitement, and joy.

As we all got settled in and started to chat it was obvious that it was going to be a 

fun and inspiring day for us all.

As her boys and mine got to know each other in the way that little boys do,

Lauren and I got to know each other in the way that creative moms do.

ME: As a stay at home mom of two awesome and active little boys, how do you find the time to paint?

LAUREN: I think for me time is something that we all at times take for granted. For me I think I just kind of work around their schedule because they are of course my number one priority. I do try to keep them as busy as I can when I need to work or feeling that creative urge and including them in the process is something my eldest really enjoys as well. Ultimately I am where I am today because of them. I have the motivation and inspiration because of them.   Here I go running on a tangent I can't help myself. Haha

The tangents did go on and on, but it was so inspiring.

I found myself dizzy wrapping my head around her words.

I sat behind her crouched in a corner, as to not interrupt or get in her way.

She softly and gently spoke to me about how important it was for her as a mother to show

her boys that anything was possible.

We spoke about the struggles and joys of motherhood, being a wife, being a woman.

All the while I watcher her hands dance and swirl around her canvas as if they were actually performing to the classical music that was playing in the background.

ME: What inspires you? Not only in your painting but in the rest of your creative world?

LAUREN: So many of my studies has been the fable form. Coming from someone who has struggled with the securities of her own body it just seems so natural that I would do concentrations on the curves and differences which is that of the female form. As a woman today I find more inspiration by my fellow mothers then I ever did before. The acceptance of our wrinkles and stretch marks and wide hips. To me that is where the beauty lies and that's what I want to capture. Not just the beautiful long legged thin women but also the curvaceous and beautiful thick woman. Art for me is definitely an outlet. I am a mother so time alone is very rare. But it's in my studio, in my space that I feel that I can run away even for a brief moment. I'm a hopeless romantic I am in love with the fantasy worlds and I think diving head first into my pieces, what ever I'm working on, its kind of a little break from this reality into something incredibly magical.

ME: What are your studio must haves?

LAUREN: Ah studio must haves well of course you need great natural light in any work space as well as the perfect set of brushes. You can do nothing right with out the perfect set of tools to create with.

ME: What is a silly fact about you that not many people know? Any hidden talents?

LAUREN: Haha a silly fact. Well some people do know this and it's completely off topic but its been proven that I have a very specific and humorous talent communicating with a certain monkey at the zoo. No lie when I do my monkey noises they all come out and jump around. You can ask anyone who has been to the zoo with me. Haha

ME: Give us a little backstory on this piece you are working on.

LAUREN: This piece will be hanging in the restaurant La Sirena. A name to be honest I haven't really thought of one since it is purely a commission piece, but really has become something I'm very emotionally tied to. My amazing landlord who is also the owner of the restaurant confronted me about doing a piece for his incredible restaurant. If you've been there you know it's a quaint and intimate Italian restaurant covered in mermaids where of course the name of his restaurant comes from.

It was also so amazing to learn that Lauren was using all of their old menus, 

bringing them back to life with her amazing composition.

"I'm grateful for the ability to do many things well and to be able to do them to make a living out of and stay home with my kids. I'm grateful that I have experienced and seen so many things good and bad because ultimately it has shaped the person I am today." - Lauren Noel