Lauren Stamegna displays her finished watercolor piece, “Efflorescence Once More.” (SUBMITTED PHOTO)
The Logan County Art League’s seventh annual fundraiser, Not So Bad Art By Good People, is wrapping up this week, with the work of 10 local celebrity artists on display at the Citizens Federal Savings and Loan, 100 N. Main St., Bellefontaine.
The final days of the display are today, Wednesday, Jan. 24; Thursday, Jan. 25; and Friday, Jan. 26. The public is invited to stop by during bank lobby hours to pick their favorite pieces for $1 per vote.
Voting is also available online at the Art League’s website: https://logancountyartleague.org/.
The winner of the community vote will be announced at an auction finale event Friday at the Bellefontaine VFW, 216 Orchard Ave. The public is invited to attend the auction that begins at 7 p.m. and participate free of charge, with all proceeds supporting the Art League.
Here’s a look at Lauren Stamegna’s reflections on her watercolor piece, “Efflorescence Once More”:
I was born, raised, and graduated from Bellefontaine. I always had creativity flowing through my veins — if it was art-related, I wanted to be a part of it.
I moved away for a while after high school. I went out to California to join the Young Americans for a couple of years, where I studied music education and performing arts and then I went on to earn my BFA in jewelry at the Savannah College of Art and Design.
From there, I moved to Wilmington, Del., to work in the bridal industry selling wedding dresses. Being in Delaware ignited my passion for weddings and sparked my dream of having a wedding venue.
Cue 2020 and everything falls apart. That’s when we came upon the opportunity to take over what was known as Markin Farms, to rebrand and grow the business to what is now Honey Birch Farm (550 Township Road 30 E., West Liberty). I have worked in the wedding industry for 10 years now, and we (my family) have owned the farm for a little over three years.
I remember first hearing about the Not So Bad Art By Good People several years ago on Facebook. At the time, I was still living in Delaware, but I was proud to finally see a strong effort for community art events. The event was on my radar but never truly at the forefront of my brain until I moved back.
I don’t think people understand how important art is and to see these prominent people from around the community take time to create something and share a little piece of their soul, is something I really appreciated.
I was very excited when I was asked to participate in this year’s Not So Bad Art By Good People. Since I have moved back here, it has been my goal (that I am still working toward) to get involved with the arts in the community because I feel like it was missing from my childhood (outside of school) and never truly appreciated or respected largely by the people in the area.
I want to get to a point where I am able to raise awareness of how important art and design is to everyday life and how there are so many crucial career paths out there. I would love to find a way to encourage the growth of art and design-related education and to feel like career creatives have a place to prosper and that they don’t have to run off to the big cities to find that kind of camaraderie — something I feel like I could have used in my high school years.
Although I’ve always been a creative, I have never been able to identify myself as such until more recent years. After it was absent from my life while living in Delaware, my soul got to a point where it needed to create something. I was not me without a creative outlet. I found a local makers space, where I got to started developing my woodworking skills and playing around with a laser cutter. I started a side hustle and it was my therapy. I named it the Fox & Sun and I am still making custom farmhouse style signs for people.
I’ve always been partial to the 3D arts. I’m a thinker and love to marry function and aesthetics. I can draw but don’t necessarily love to, and painting is a level of creativity that I find highly difficult.
I have always wanted to learn how to use watercolor paints, but being a bit of a control freak, I never got into it because it’s a semi-uncontrollable medium and the color use is more intuitive than cognitive.
Wanda Stahler was a close family friend, and known all throughout the community for her watercolor paintings. I remember her teaching me how to draw boats on the docks of Northern Michigan when I was much younger and this event felt like the right opportunity to pay homage to her in my own way; to better learn to give up control, learn how to use watercolors, and let the art flow from your heart instead of overthinking every stroke of the brush.
I have chosen to title my piece, “Efflorescence Once More.” Despite harsh winters, flowers always find a way to bloom again. I’ve been through some interesting challenges these past couple of years and I am taking back control again by learning how to listen to my intuition.
I did not receive any help or input as I knew it would cause me to overthink. I drew inspiration from an artist I found on Instagram, which I ironically could not remember her name to directly reference her work, rather I had to rely on my memory and how her pieces made me feel when I watched videos of her painting.
The process was fun. I did a couple of test doodles of fruit before I jumped in completely on my painting. I had to research and learn a couple of techniques so I was comfortable diving in on my painting. It took me about a week to finish.
I am so ecstatic that I get to help raise funds for the Logan County Art League! This is my beginning to what is hopefully a long road of me supporting the arts in our community.
Lauren Stamegna paints a butterfly on her 2024 Not So Bad Art By Good People piece. (SCREENSHOT FROM VIDEO STILL)