Non Ordinary Beings Kickstarter Campaign

 

Hi all.

It’s been quiet from me for about 2 weeks as I’ve been creating magic.

Real life magic!

I’ll explain.

Around a month or two ago I met Lauren Sebastian through her sister, my friend Alex. I had been ogling her work from afar over social media for a while and I was delighted to finally meet her. The reason I was so excited? Well Lauren is an extremely talented artist who hand paints beautiful mystical and magical themed artworks. I’d spent hours staring into some of her creations and never got tired. I had even felt a strange connection to some of them. Like they were painted specifically for me, even though Lauren had never even met me at this point! So I was extremely excited to finally meet this wonderful lady.

When we met she was everything I imagined. Very spiritual and wise with an aura of magic about her. We spoke in detail about her paintings and the feelings behind them and her up and coming Kick Starter campaign. The aim of the Kick Starter was to raise some funds for a gallery event she is opening in October. I knew instantly I wanted to support this lady in any way I could.

I had spent so long looking into these paintings I had started to notice how I could possibly recreate them on my nails. Then it hit me! If I could get even one more person to look at Lauren’s art and help promote her, then I’d be doing some good. And I have around 600 followers who love nail designs; so the plan was made. With Lauren’s permission and a time scale, I agreed to recreate 5 of my favourite paintings of hers and help promote her using my social media accounts.

I’ve used over 30 polishes, every brush I own, glitter, sponges, latex and around 10 hours of my time to recreate these beautiful creatures. And here they are!

Audra, The Rainmaker

This is Audra, a Non Ordinary being, empowered by stormy weather. As you see there are so many vibrant colours and details in this painting I had so many ways to interpret her. When I look at Audra, I see the rainbow first. The stormy hair and lightning bolts, all blended together in a sea of blues. I also love how her hair doesn’t fit in the lines of the painting. Like it’s so tempestuous it cannot be contained.

This is my recreation.

Audra inspired design

I wanted to feel a depth to the sky and I felt the only way to create that would be using lots of shades in a smooshing method. For anyone unaware of the ‘smoosh’ method its the process of placing a selection of colours onto a sponge or stamper and squishing them onto your nail so they don’t quite fully blend together. I then added the storm clouds, lightening bolt and rainbow over the top. I used my Kolinsky #09 Nail Art brush to paint the small details. I also wanted the raindrops to have an sparkly feel to them so topped them with glitter. It’s a really lovely weather inspired design and I loved the colours in the rainbow!

Next up we have Zita, The Weigher of Wisdom

Zita, Weigher of Wisdom

This painting was one of the ones I felt were meant for me. I have always been a very spiritual person and some of the symbols in this painting are common place in my life. I am also a Libran, so feel harmony when in control and feel wise beyond my years. Zita will always be a favourite of mine!

Here’s my recreation

Zita inspired design

I loved how Zita’s hair isn’t one precise colour. It’s a beautiful blend of blues, purples and pinks. The closer you look the more shades you see. I used the same smooshing technique for this design and used 4 purples, a pink and dark blue. To create the symbols I used my Barry M Nail Art pen in white. This is a great way to hand draw on a design when a brush might not do it so well. The pens are super easy to control and can be cleaned up without damaging the base coat which makes the smaller details less pressured!

Next up we have Haven, The Keeper of Sacred Secrets.

Haven, The Keeper of Sacred Secrets

When I look at Haven I see a being that I hope exists. Whenever you tell a secret there’s a powerful force behind it. It’s been a precious piece of information and sharing this with someone takes great trust and respect. Even though they are only words being said, they are powerful. The force and power behind the secret must go somewhere. And if Haven and her birds are up there in the mountains listening in, that’s where I hope it all goes.

I love how the mountains are not one solid colour. Like they are fractured crystals glinting in the sunshine. Also I love the canaries. Their yellow wings became my biggest inspiration.

Here is my recreation,

Haven inspired design

This design had been banging around in my head for ages. I’d admired those mountains for months and knew I wanted the angular shards to be a focal point of my design. I love how the different colours look against each other. I wanted Haven’s key to stand out against the yellow background so I used Barry M Foil Effects polish in gold.

Next up we have Ishbel, The Inquisitive Illuminates,

Ishbel, The Inquisitive Illuminates

Ishbel gives me serious mermaid vibes. I imagine she has a glowing tail languishing behind her as she swims in lagoons lighting the way for the lost souls of the world. I originally wanted to do a scale based design but felt there might have been a better way to depict her. I looked closer at the painting and saw the night sky behind her. The deep black night with thousands of stars. I can see how bright the reeds and flowers are against the night sky. That even in darkness you can see hundreds of colours in one small cluster of reeds. I also love how the dandelion seeds are so detailed. I knew Ishbel needed a night scene.

Here’s my recreation,

Ishbel inspired design

I had the perfect black polish for the night sky! Danglefoot Higitis Figitis is the darkest black holographic polish I own. It has hidden depth and up close it was like a starry night sky. I will always love this polish!

To top the base I used a selection of Essence UK polishes in bright shades to paint the reeds and orbs. I added a small piece of gold glitter to the centre of the orbs to give them a sparkle. To create the dandelion seeds I painted on the green stalk first then using a dotting tool I added the seed heads.

I was very happy with how bright these turned out. I received lots of compliments on them too!

Lastly we have Lumen, The Open Hearted Sensitive,

Lumen, The Open Hearted Sensitive

Lumen is a family favourite. When I first started looking at Lauren’s paintings Lumen caught my eye. I have sat looking deeply into this painting and declaring how beautiful she is many a time. My husband, a very manly man, has even agreed she is his favourite too! I love the blend of colours for the background. The orchids are so detailed and look as if they grow solely from Lumen. The crystals that hang around her hold so many shades and colours like a real crystal would. Overall, she spoke to me the most. I felt Lumen was meant for me.

This is my recreation,

Lumen inspired design

I used 4 Barry M polishes to create the gradient background. To create the orchids I used the reverse stamping method.

Stamping is when you create a design using polish painted onto a metal plate. The plates will have beautiful and intricate designs drawn on them to create ridges. You paint the polish over the design you want, scrape off the excess and push down your stamping head to pick up the image to then transfer to the nails. Reverse stamping is the same method except once you have the image on the stamping head, you use brushes to colour in and add detail to the image before transferring to the nail.

This design was my first attempt at that technique and I feel it went really well. I will certainly be using this method again!

It was a long process but a rewarding one too!

 

So there we have it, my 5 recreations of Lauren’s original paintings.

So over the course of the Kickstarter campaign I maintained a close eye on the running donation total and continued to promote and advertise. Lauren had set a target of £3700 to help fund her upcoming project. The end of the Kickstarter was set for the day of Summer Solstice at 3.33pm. As with any Kickstarter there were slow days of donations and then a few of larger donations. Lauren wants everyone who donated to be mentioned in her show and the higher pledges will receive pieces of her original ‘Pesky Seagull’ artworks or a print of one of the Non Ordinary Beings paintings.

Sadly even with all the support and promotion Lauren didn’t quite reach her target of £3700. However a whopping £1176 was raised during the Kickstarter process!

This money will be used to support and help Lauren achieve her dream of showing her creations at a gallery in St Ives, Cornwall.

I am incredibly pleased this money was raised! Lauren is a wonderful woman and talented artist who deserves her big moment. I wish her all the best for the future and thank her for being incredibly supportive of my art and continuing to inspire more designs.

Thank you to everyone who pledged and supported this campaign, and also thank you for reading!

Kat x