by Lauren McLaughlin
sponsored by Icon Poly
photography courtesy of Scott McLaughlin

A Nebraska native, I have lived in Kearney since the first grade and have always had a passion for creating art. My earliest art project in memory was in Mrs. Jasnoch’s first grade class at Kenwood Elementary. We were drawing underwater scenes with crayon, cutting and pasting, layering the foreground, middle ground, and background. I was incredibly proud of my drawing and still have the masterpiece, although now slightly tattered.

A 2006 Kearney High School graduate, I am currently studying Art Education at the University of Nebraska at Kearney and will be graduating in May 2011.  At UNK I have explored and have had a long fascination of Digital Photography and expanded my use of acrylic paint, both of which compiled my senior project completed during the fall of 2009 at the University.  During the fall of 2010, I will be completing my student teaching in Houston, TX at the Alief School District.

After the first Cranes on Parade project I thought to myself what an honor and joy it would be to have the opportunity to create a Crane of my own. When the opportunity did come around I could not pass it up, even with only a week to complete the project. I poured every ounce I had to pour into my crane for a week straight. This is my first commissioned piece, but hopefully not my last.

My crane was created using acrylic paint, found objects, wood, and wire. Paint itself inspires me. The way it takes on water and has a life all its own. The way it creates a path and becomes fluid. I enjoy painting abstractly to allow the viewers to create their own meanings behind my art and allow pure colors to have a voice. The inclusion of found objects into my art comes from my enjoyment of recycling found, old, rusted objects, giving them a new life and purpose. Why throw away a twisted and knotted up scrap of wire?

I never begin creating with a clear objective in mind, no sketches, no color choices, although I often lean towards red tones. Many paintings and ideas often end up painted over multiple times. I find this adds to the character in the end, building up texture, and only I know what lies beneath the final outcome.

Lauren McLaughlin
Kearney, NE

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