Lauren Catalina is an Afro Latina, native of California, born of Puerto Rican descent. She has her mother to thank for the artistic DNA in her genes. She resides in the San Francisco Bay Area and finds inspiration in the little things that are often missed, like the veins found on the underside of a leaf and the tiny yellow flower inside of the bougainvillea. Contemplating nature, as well as traveling the city streets filled with art, murals, music, and graffiti, bring her great joy; especially when it is found in foreign places!
Lauren graduated from U.C. Irvine with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Social Ecology. Years later, she became a Certified Reiki Master offering energy healing to her clients. Additionally, she became a certified Shaman and Ordained Minister with the Sacred Healers and Earth Stewards Organization, while juggling a career in the Airlines and raising her two daughters along with her husband.
Her creative abilities flourished while studying with her Shaman teachers. She made altars, baskets, drums, rattles, shields, and masks for ceremonial purposes. She developed workshops teaching others how to bring the mystical into something tangible and real through the making of these handmade tools. Bringing spirit into form is her sacred approach into art making.
Lauren began painting abstracts in 2004 as a way of healing the sense of loss that she experienced with an empty nest when her daughters went away to college. Painting offered her a freedom of expression through color and movement.
In 2013, she began painting online with Shiloh Sophia McCloud and was introduced to the Intentional Creativity Method ™ which brought forth paintings of the Divine Feminine. By combining her Shamanic abilities and bringing it to the canvas, her brush has become her magic wand. Now she brings everything to the blank portal to be transformed into art. She never knows what the end result will become, and she is often surprised what comes forth. She believes they are meant to heal and inspire and she wants to share them with you.
Today Lauren is an Elder leader in her community, uplifting the voices of her beloved black and brown sisters. You will also find her happily painting alongside her grandchildren opening the door to their unlimited creative potential.