Lauren Salm ‘Ko’olaus at Sunrise’ 11″x 14″ Oil Painting on Wood $1250

​Having grown up around the world (Indonesia, Oman, Kenya and Hawaii), I came to believe that a career in the international NGO world was the best way to contribute to improving the current condition of the planet.  I now believe that “following your bliss” (whatever that may be) is perhaps the most meaningful way to be of service. 

Working in Jordan and Sudan, all I could think about were the paintings and art projects I wanted to create.  And I understood that, for me, art was the means to allow me to explore the many inspirations I find in this world. From its people and rich cultural traditions and histories, to the beauty and intrigue found in science and the natural world, to the esoteric and cosmological underpinnings that make this existence so magnificent and wonderfully mysterious. And of course to the discoveries, realities and idiosyncrasies of my own internal universe. 

Grand Central Academy

In 2008 I left the Middle East to study drawing at the Grand Central Academy with Jacob Collins in New York for one year. In New York I was active in various social and educational art engagements. That is including working as a teaching assistant for a MOMA Teen Programmes art class. I helped to organize art exhibits of Iraqi refugee artists who were living in Syria, and working in an art gallery for Outsider art.

2015 – 2019

During 2015 – 2019, I completed several short courses at Studio Escalier in France (with Michelle Tully and Timothy Stotz). It strengthened my skills in portraiture and figurative drawing and painting.