An inspired life of texture and totem.

I have enjoyed decades of traveling, sampling, experiencing, learning, making, growing & expanding along both a creative and spiritual path. Collecting experiences and visual impressions, I have built a life on documenting and sharing the magnificence of our visual world.

I grew up touring extraordinary homes and ranches in Aspen, Colorado where my father was a realtor. The bold use of natural materials typical in resplendent Colorado architecture is foundational to my textural and material sensibilities. My mother was an art director in the film & television industry. Some of my fondest memories are of wandering in awe, aimlessly, around abundantly overflowing prop houses while she took care of business.

As a young and highly driven editorial photographer, I had unlimited exposure to the finest of creative design in Los Angeles and New York City. I traveled to London, Paris, Vienna, Tuscany and Milan, always experiencing these travels in the company of creative natives. I’d made it a discipline to seek guidance from a mentor, forming relationships with the seasoned creatives I truly admired. It was those relationships that directly transitioned me into becoming a colleague. The same mentor/colleague transition was particularly powerful in Denver, where I became a professional contemporary oil painter congruent with a complete shift in my photography. Denver is an arts-forward city with generous allotments for public spaces and unlimited opportunity to exhibit and sell. Hence, my direction shifted into interiors, installations and spacially-driven work. The breathing space in this transition has been sheer liberation.

In 2020, at the onset of the Covid crisis, I joined my family in Northwest Arkansas, where I set down roots and became a farmer. While the world was overwrought with uncertainty and fear, I used this time of isolation to dive into the space between my walls, leaning into soothing tones and primitive textures. Soon the political/world health climate grew unbearably heated, and my home became a tuning fork for neutrality, tranquility and wholeness.

Lifted restrictions gave way to a creative and spiritual community that embraced and supported me wholeheartedly. Here I have learned even more about the mysteries of our Earth, its textures and gifts. And that intentionally creating our optimal environment directly impacts our wellness through the central nervous system. In that spirit, I work to create pieces and spaces that fully align with a unique sense of safety and vitality, cohesion and harmony.

On my farm there are two horses, a donkey, three dogs and a flock of around 50 birds comprised of ducks, geese and chickens. I take in rescued waterfowl and have rehabilitated quite a few. I lose my mind when there are babies, over-photographing and often over-posting. They inspire me to create more. And to love more.

They are my totems.

When a dear friend lovingly called me Lauren Birdley in a text one day, it became my studio name.

“Some of my fondest memories are of wandering aimlessly through the overflowing aisles of prop houses at movie studios.”