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First, my name is Lauren Mural. I have moved about 10 times in my life, I have 5 siblings that are all younger than me, and I love taking care of plants and my new cat. I spend a lot of my time with my roommates, DezJ'nae and Makayla, and my friends, Connor and Ben. They all influence me and my art in various ways, each have given me ideas and projects that keep me busy and constantly improving my work. My family also played a large role in my becoming an artist, my parents were always supportive of my creativity and my siblings provided a constant (but mostly humorous) stream of constructive criticism. When I was small, my mother let me dress, and I chose vibrant colours and conflicting patterns (much to my grandparents and father's dismay), to which my father would ask if I was sure if I would like to go to school like that. I confidently answered "yes!" every time, and I believe it was these small creative freedoms that have allowed me to become the creative person I am today. My giant family with my giant (Great Dane) dog and cat have all impacted my life and creative processes so much, and each move we have taken together has helped me develop my collaborative skills better. Because of my siblings very different personalities and my constant need to make new friends (from all the moving), I find I work very well with very diverse people for both long and short periods of time. It is also important to note the extreme influx of media in the latest 20 years and how it has impacted gen z. I must attribute a lot of pieces of my ideas and art to the internet, I spend a lot of my time viewing various media for creative and design ideas. In tandem with my people experience, I think that the generation I grew up in allows me to be a great free artist where I can create and express myself in any way I choose.

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Taken from my first personal statement:
- buying cheap dishes to break when you get angry (and breaking them to loud music when something goes very wrong)
- speaking your mind as though you are standing on stable ground rather than a tightrope above a canyon (and enjoy the fall down, if you do tip over)

New ideas:
- Recycle your paper towel and toilet paper rolls! working towards a cleaner earth will make us able to create art for a longer amount of time
- Take ideas from your friends and your inspirations to have a fun process that you can love as much as the finished product
- loving the process is the key to good work
- Make art with the broken pieces of cheap dishes that you break when you get angry (you can put them in a rock tumbler and make fake sea glass or pretty rocks to put in a garden)
- I used my developing ideas for the benefit of my friends and made a cute little birthday party at Zilker for her. The picture below is of me in my cool outfit cutting the cake I made from scratch (that was inspired by my friend (connections!)) and various reusable items I brought to the party.

I constantly find myself learning new things and wanting to incorporate these new ideas into my work. There is nothing I won't try when making art, I find it is very useful to just experiment, not always with much thought, just to see what happens. I continue to try to incorporate my new cat, Goose, into my work because he brings me so much joy. I would love to create new art with him, perhaps getting a big canvas and giving him non-toxic washable paint to walks around in and do his own sort of painting with me. It would be a very fun little group collaboration, just me and my cat. I think anyone who has a pet should venture to create art with them. It is very interesting to create with something that does not communicate the same way we do, I think it would be productive to have to deal with and work around something that cannot really be controlled.

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I love nature. That's honestly an understatement. Using things that I cannot control and in their natural beauty and state is one of the best things about art. One of my top strengths according to the VIA Character Strengths test, created by the founder of positive psychology, is an appreciation for beauty and excellence. Pictured below is my siblings and I after hiking a mountain with my family when we were little. I recall identifying the plants along the path and appreciating the trees and the view every step of the way. I want to use this type of experience in my art now, my appreciation for beauty and excellence is a great strength to have when searching for inspiration and ideas. I encourage others to use their strengths to develop ideas and gain inspiration for their art. I have linked the VIA Character Strengths Test below so you can learn your strengths and use them for your art and ideas: https://www.authentichappiness.sas.upenn.edu/home

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Taken from my first personal statement:
- No two of anything is the same
- there is nobody that is not of value
- Everyone has something to offer and can contribute, whether you get to see it or not.

New Ideas:
- intend to make everything different (big or small projects)
- do not be afraid to speak your mind even if it is extremely frightening and people might disagree
- everyone's ideas are of value, even if they do not serve the process you are going through.
- The photo below is of me and my tech crew for Almost, Maine in high school. This was one of my most successful collaborations to date, as we all had various experiences that we brought to the project. We taught each other so many things and really worked more for the process and less for the product.

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I've always been, for lack of better words, a bossy bitch. Commandeering all projects I've been a part of and making sure it gets done correctly. Even if we take different paths, I always made sure we ended up at the same place in the end. I have since attempted to be less of that and more chill. I have always been able to go with the flow during the process, but I felt that especially for school projects, it was essential that we arrive at the same place for the betterment of our grades. If it works, why change? I find that it gets repetitive and boring in art, though, so I have tried to take different paths that lead to different things. I think it is important to try new things, especially if you are stuck in habits. Working with new people has forced me to bend better, but I think that my family has given me the most experience when it comes to compromise and process troubles. Each of my siblings is very different and has fought my decisions, whether creative or not, in various ways. The photo below is of me when I was little, bossing my siblings around to make sure the birthday went right. My compromise abilities are unmatched because of them. I should use these skills more often and teach others, I feel that it would really help everyone I work with to take a piece of what I've learned as well. I encourage everyone to do similar things, teach other collaborators a piece of what they've learned from their lives. I think that if we all did something like that, we would be able to have some seriously worldly experiences that would help us all.

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Taken from my first personal statement:
- I am constantly in awe of new ideas and creations
- inspired by the fashion industry and obscure home decor
- I love to surround myself with beautiful art and find myself in admiration of even the simplest things

New ideas:
- I love my new cat so much! He is so silly but I am training him to be well-behaved.
- New music inspires me to look up and watch the world around me
- There are things so much bigger than me happening all the time, it is good of me to recognize my part (however small) in all of it.
- Fashion and home decor still inspire me, but I am trying to use what I have rather than buying more to live more sustainably.
- the humour in It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia has recently become a very large part of my personality and inspirations
- I miss the places I used to live
- The picture below is of me and my two friends in 6th grade on Halloween. I was a little hippie, my best friend Carley was an 80s star, and my friend Katie was a nerd. Carley has inspired me for years and we recently got best friend tattoos together because we've been such great friends for so long. As two artists, I find that together we inspire each other and I treasure our friendship more every day.

My friendships, new and old, have shaped me tremendously as a person. I have learned a great deal from each of my friendships and they constantly inspire me to do more, learn more, and create more. Friendships of note that have had a great impact on me are as follows:
Carley Tantlinger
Hollie Wilburn
Zach Andrzejewski
Zirdi Syukur
Connor Stooksberry
Ben Shipman

From Carley: A fellow artist, she constantly inspires me to do better and be better. Our creativity together knows no bounds and I hope that someday we will live closer together again to further inspire each other.

From Hollie: We grew up together, for as much as we could, and have stayed in touch since my move to Texas. We have traversed the world together, taking trips every summer to new countries and exploring together. Our experiences together have brought me so much inspiration, for art and for life. I love her like a sister and I hope we continue to visit and travel with each other in the future.

From Zach: My high school best friend, Zach truly brought out the real me. He taught me that it is entirely okay to be me and encouraged me to do things that made me happy and brought out the best in me. We had some absolutely stellar times together and I wish we were still friends now, but I am grateful for the time we shared.

From Zirdi: One of my greatest friends from overseas, Zirdi inspires me to go outside my comfort zone. He constantly puts himself and his art out into the world and uses his music to inspire others. I admire his confidence to put himself out there so much and it helps me do the same.

From Connor: One of my favourite friends that I've ever met, Connor pushes himself to be the best version of himself every day. He is constantly moving forward in every aspect of his life, regardless of the obstacles he finds in his way. His consistent trying inspires me to do the same, even when things get really hard. I admire his will and efforts to work on himself, and I hope that through him I can learn to do the same.

From Ben: My best friend and current boyfriend, I spend most of my time with Ben. I can talk to him without saying a word. We play lots of games and are learning from each other at all times. His strategy in games and perspective on life inspires me to think more about my own impact on the earth and how I can make it better. I hope to keep learning from him and trying to be better with him.