Today we’d like to introduce you to Lorean Bautista.
Lorean, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
A few years ago, some major shifts were happening in my life as far as family, relationships, and finance, so I needed something stable to hang onto. I needed a way to slow things down and accept what was happening FOR me and not TO me. So I did everything I could to find peace – meditation, yoga, sage, crystals, prayer, all the things! Then finally the one thing that helped me as a kid came back into my life… Painting.
There was something meditative about painting that brought me back to the present moment. It helped me express things I couldn’t say in words, so a canvas pad became my daily journal. I would paint before bed to relax and put the day’s energy onto the canvas. I loved seeing that a painting from one day looked completely different the next day and from this I learned the power of impermanence – everything passes. I felt better every time I painted and this was when I decided to share it with others.
I had no idea how to start, but I kept hearing the quote “Get out of your own way” so I let my crazy business idea of creating an art and wellness space breathe. A couple of days later, Marina who was a new studio owner, DMed me on Instagram. She came across my profile and saw posts on art classes and recent projects I was working on, so we set up a phone call. She was opening a multipurpose studio for artists, wellness coaches, fitness classes and more. What came next was something I couldn’t wrap my head around – she wanted to hire me as an art teacher! I was in tears because not too long ago, this was just a dream I was praying for.
A couple of months later, I started to teach monthly art classes for all ages. After every class, I noticed such a big change in the students. They went from self-doubt to confidence, from apprehension to openness, and from frustration to admiration. I loved seeing that gleam in their eyes, proud of what they made with their own two hands.
Seeing how this combination of Art and Meditation improved others’ well-being, I started to dream up more classes that included poetry and yoga. I wasn’t sure how it would turn out, but I received so much support from my community that Art with Miss L became a regular gig.
Currently, I’m setting up new classes for Spring 2020!
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
As my mom would say, “Nothing in life comes easy”! After I graduated from CSULB in 2011, my dad had a stroke. Our family tried hard to adjust our schedules to help him through recovery, so I held off on work for a while. When I wasn’t working, everyone was so worried that my Art Degree wouldn’t get me anywhere and my drive plummeted. The only thing that kept me going was my family and how I wanted to contribute to a better life for all of us.
I needed to stay busy, so I started working part-time for Cosmetics at Nordstrom. Two years after that, I got laid off, went on unemployment, and went back to school at Fullerton Junior College to deepen my knowledge of graphic design. While I was there, I built up my portfolio, picked up two internships – one as a museum docent and the other as a curatorial researcher; all while juggling 3 VERY part-time jobs as a kids art teacher, photo editor, & makeup artist. Luckily, in 2015, after a few years of juggling, my friend told me about a job opening as a city’s Graphic Designer and I’ve been with them ever since. The job also included Social Media Marketing and has recently expanded to Video Communications.
My life was all over the place before I landed a “regular” day job, but I was mindful of what I was doing. I was curating my life to acquire the skills needed to be where I am now. Also, my major in Studio Art gave me the advantage to experiment with all kinds of visual art. It was perfect for the “umbrella role” of my day job and also beneficial for the types of art projects I bring into my classes.
Art with Miss L – what should we know? What do you do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
Art with Miss L is a branch of LAB19 Creative that specializes in Mindful Creativity for ALL. This can vary from Paint and Poetry Night to Couples Paint Night, and Kids Art Parties (a popular one being Unicorn Paint Party).
One thing I’m big on is meditation to settle everyone in and a mini art history lesson. This ain’t yo average Paint & Sip. It’s BYOW (wine), we meditate, connect with each other, learn about artists, and create abstract art while listening to bomb music. No matter what you came for, you always leave learning something new.
For adult classes, they choose colors that are meaningful to them and I teach techniques that will help their art look as unique as possible. My favorite part is at the end of class where everyone is asked to hold up their artwork. In this moment, they can all see how beautiful each and every painting is no matter how different they look. For kids, the process is the same with a little more direction. My favorite part about their class is the visualization exercise and hearing about what they saw. We get answers like “I can smell the wind!”, “Everything is blue and neon green!” and “My garden is full of bunnies!” This excitement is what keeps me inspired to bring out the kid in all of us.
As for the other services under LAB19 Creative, we specialize in Graphic Design and Marketing.
What moment in your career do you look back most fondly on?
Currently living in it by using my creative gifts to help others.
Also, being a working artist able to take my parents on vacation without going broke! Shout out to my sister for going halfsies.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.connectstudiospace.com/schedule
- Email: [email protected]
- Instagram: @art_withmissl
Image Credit:
Photos taken as Connect Studio Space and Cal State University Long Beach
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