Story and photos by Jenny Harnish
L auren Tilden likes old things . She likes old houses , farm life and history . She is inspired by old art from the masters like Rembrandt and Johannes Vermeer .
She grew up in the suburbs of Philadelphia . Both her parents were artists and her father was her elementary school art teacher . She loved growing up in a creative environment and went on to study art conservation at the University of Delaware . She studied techniques the great masters used . “ It gave me the knowledge I needed in terms of how to build a painting .”
From there she attended the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts in Philadelphia , the first and oldest art school in the United States , where she earned her Master of Fine Arts . She joined F . A . N . Gallery in Philadelphia and continues to be represented by them .
Her oil paintings of children in fields of tall grass bring you back to a simpler time . Not an easier time , because Lauren knows that life is hard . The subjects in her paintings know it , too .
“ There ’ s an aspect of life that is challenging . Things can be very unpleasant – it ’ s not roses and cupcakes all the time . So that ’ s a reality that I want to convey , but then even in the midst of that to still have hope that there is a God that even in our weaknesses , in our trials , in our fallen state who does love us and wants to care for us . I almost think that ’ s kinda the theme for most of my paintings .”
Lauren mostly paints the people she ’ s surrounded by – her husband , children and family .
“ For me the first aspect is I really do love painting people . I ’ m really interested in who the person is – if I can convey that spirit and humanity in the actual painting . And then also because I ’ m a Christian so I believe that people are created in the image of God , and that ’ s something I want to showcase and elevate . If you look at Western art , there was a time when that was very prevalent in art and over time we ’ ve lost that to the point where there ’ s a lot of cynicism in art and devaluing of human form .”
She and her husband had always dreamed of having a family farm , and three years ago that dream materialized when her family bought a farm near Pence Springs in Summers County . She says she has fallen in love with the area and feels a sense of freedom she didn ’ t have before .
“ It was just beautiful when we drove through . You have the mountains , the farmland and the people were so kind also . The more people we met we realized this is a really nice place to live – a great place to raise children .”
Her daughters now help raise horses , chickens , cows , pigs and goats and are watching their parents restore an old farmhouse .
Lauren believes that one ’ s life and surroundings influence the direction their art will go and after moving to West Virginia she is redefining her vision .
“ Since moving here I ’ m overwhelmed with thinking of the different possibilities or directions I could go to with my work . I love my portraits , but there ’ s a different element out here in West Virginia .” She has been painting more landscapes . She says the rugged landscape , the people and the culture inspire her . “ I have a great deal of respect for the people I ’ ve met who have lived here their whole life and their perspective on life .”
She added , “ It ’ s something that I like , and I want to see if there ’ s a way to showcase that in my art .
“ The great thing about West Virginia is there ’ s so much there to paint . Whether it ’ s the landscape or an old barn that ’ s falling down or the people or whatever . There ’ s just a lot .”
Lauren ’ s work can be seen at the Alderson Artisans Gallery and at the Gibson ’ s Gallery at The Greenbrier Resort in White Sulphur Springs . More of her work can also be seen on her website www . laurentilden . com . �
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