Meet Lorien Eck of Lorien Eck Art & Design in San Pedro

Today we’d like to introduce you to Lorien Eck.

So, before we jump into specific questions about the business, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
I was born in Los Angeles and raised in sunny Laguna Niguel, California. 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. It has been a joy growing up near the ocean and I spent a lot of time playing at the beach and playing on sports teams, like soccer and then tennis through my high school years. This lifestyle and appreciation of the natural world has informed my work and has been a huge inspiration to me throughout my life. My dad is an avid surfer, windsurfer, kite-boarder, skier and all-around athlete. My mother is a retired flight attendant swimmer, film aficionado and arts enthusiast. They have an 11-year old Pomeranian named, Angel.

Another early and lasting influence is travel. As a young person, I traveled frequently to New York City, Hawaii and as a teen to Paris, France with my family. 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 natural elements of sea and sand. I grew up a time when we spent many hours playing dress-up, make believe and enjoyed the simple things in life.

I was about 3 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 artist dad. My dad was in the Festival of Arts in Laguna Beach, CA and every summer I would spend every day there with him playing with my friends, creating art and making hand-made jewelry; I loved making things and inventing new creations to express myself and was very much encouraged to be an original and be me!

One of my passions has always been fashion and style and during my high schooI years, I honed that interest through sewing classes with an amazing teacher. Mrs. Hansen taught me how to create couture pieces from any design I came up with and I wore these gorgeous dresses to dances and fashions to school. It was great fun! Textiles and eco fashion continue to be a passion of mine through collecting hand-woven pieces from various indigenous cultures and my choice to be a conscious consumer through the #30wears initiative and supporting small eco wear lines.

Some fun facts about me are: I was raised a vegetarian and both my parents have been vegetarians for nearly 50 years; I have traveled and lived around the world, living in Ghana, West Africa for three months, Guatemala for 4 months, a Thailand-Burma refugee camp service for three weeks, traveled to India six times to an ashram, Brazil for three months; and lived off the grid in a hand-built, solar-powered house on 100 acres of uninhabited land in Northern New York for 3 months, drinking from a fresh spring and foraging my own food.

I attended and graduated from San Francisco State University (B.A. Studio Art), St. Lawrence University, New York (M.Ed.). And, my journey and interest in making a positive impact in peoples’ lives delivered me to work in the field of education as a coach and eventual art teacher in both rural and inner city settings for over 15 years. I realized my passion for abstract, cosmic painting using mixed media when I took a leap of faith and left my career as a public school teacher in the inner city of Los Angeles. Now I am a creative entrepreneur who maintains a thriving art studio, called Waterfront Studios™

We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc. – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
While it remains an important part of my mission to debunk the age-old lie that artists are “starving” or must suffer for their art to become a top artist, sacrifices have been made and I’ve spent years developing and refining my craft while my work finds its place in the world of contemporary art. Depending on the audience, people tend to see art as simply a luxury item and overlook its essential purpose and role. Many people find my art beautiful and have expressed that to me in many ways, yet over the years yet it’s been challenging to establish myself as a self-sustaining artist. Getting my art in front of those who appreciate the beauty, aesthetic and depth of my art and have the finances to purchase my paintings is key to my moving towards a sustainable livelihood for me as an artist.

Choosing to follow my heart and be a full-time artist has required that I do what it takes to do so and this has taken on many forms and challenges. These have been: 1. Financial hardship 2. Living with parents for a while 3. Cutting back on expenses 4. Exhausting life savings. So, yes, challenges have been an integral part of the journey and I continue to face them and overcome in order to thrive and continue to lead by example.

So let’s switch gears a bit and go into the Lorien Eck Art & Design story. Tell us more about the business.
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. Another passion of mine is supporting others in discovering their Divine inner artist and living a whole-hearted life through the creative process via Art with Lórien ¬ online classes and on-location art workshops.

Many of my mixed-media paintings are inspired by our environment, water preservation and the cosmos. Capturing a sense of the planet’s majestic beauty with vivid colors and bold brush-work, I create a powerful combination of inner and outer landscapes that guide the viewer into a deep reflection. A long-time advocate for environmental justice, my work is more vital than ever before with the current challenges that threaten our Earth.

Has luck played a meaningful role in your life and business?
This is a great question. I understand luck to be connected to personal effort and is also about timing. I believe that we create our own luck and this is also intimately linked to our unconscious belief systems and to cultivating an attitude of gratitude. It’s complicated but ultimately, I have seen that my luck increases when I make the efforts and give myself a chance to receive luck as well as counting my blessings along the way. Also, trusting the process and allowing the goodness to show up however and whenever. Timing is a factor that requires a fine balance of following our instinct, self-trust as well as surrendering and giving up control. Trusting the process and keeping a positive mindset certainly supports more good luck coming our way!

Contact Info:

• Website: www.LorienEck.com
• Phone: 949-357-5510
• Email: [email protected]
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lorieneck/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lorieneckartdesign
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/lorieneck
• Other: https://www.youtube.com/artwithlorien

Image Credit:
AryAdne Woodbridge Photography www.arywoodbridgephoto.com

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