It’s spooky how many art events are happening in NJ!

Happy Fall and happy Halloween season…one of my favorite times of year! The pandemic halted a lot of live art events & exhibits but they are making a come back and virtual exhibits continue as well as a safe, free way for people to enjoy a wide variety of art events. I thought I’d share some art exhibits I have work in, both live and online…hope you’ll enjoy them and get inspired to create &/or support local artists!

The WINDOWS ART WALK in downtown Highland Park, NJ continues!  Localstore owners are opening their windows for displaying art for the Window Art Walk! Take a stroll down Raritan Ave., where you can see the work of local artists in many shops.  My painting  “SHE” is in Main Street HP’s window.

FAVORITES is an online art event hosted by Personaland Gallery!  My painting, “Omen”, is the one I chose for this show so it’s included in this exciting virtual exhibit along with the favorite works of many artists from across the globe (including some of my art students!)  Which will be your favorite?  Check out the show here: https://personaland.com/hut/exhibition/favorites

HERITAGE is a new, virtual exhibit focusing on what our culture, background, family & history mean to us as artists and community members.  I have the above digital collage, “Necropolis”, along with other works in this online show.  View it here in this virtual gallery:  https://www.westerhoffschoolofmusicandart.com/galerie.html

Windows of Understanding  I am proud to announce that I have an original piece of art in the Metuchen NJ Library for Windows of Understanding, a public art project addressing social issues & climate change…it is still on display.  And I was selected to create a new piece for this year’s Windows of Understanding project as well so stay tuned!

Anti-bully Bunny helps kids!

Art & stories are a great way to teach kids about compassion & life-skills.  This is one reason I love creating illustrations for children’s books, so when author Joan Decker

approached me to commission me to illustrate her anti-bullying story for kids, I immediately said YES!  The book is now complete and available on Amazon & Kindle so I invited Joan to be my next guest blogger so she can share her inspiration for her book with you…..

My name is Joan Decker, I’m a single mother of two son’s age’s 34 & 18 yrs. I am also a retired Special Ed teaching Assistant of 11 yrs. I began writing Poetry at the age of 16 yrs. old, it come’s so naturally to me. I have a compilation of Poems and will make it into a book soon. I’ve been an Advocate against Bullying since 2004, & I mentor children through Social Media. I was bullied as a young child after I had to start wearing glasses at age 7 yrs. old and hated them. We were poor, & my Mom had to use Medicaid for all doctor appointment’s, so my choice of glasses were limited to these ugly blue one’s with pointy corner’s. The very first day I wore them to school, children laughed at me , calling me name’s like ” Cat Eye’s” and “Four Eyes”, It made me sad. I can recall crying all the time and feeling like an outcast. So I mirrored Rosalina’s character (the bunny), after myself in my first book, BE A FRIEND NOT A BULLY: NAMES HURT. My youngest son Antonio was severely bullied since Kindergarten thru 6th grade, due to his Speech delay and quiet demeanor. He was physically and emotionally bullied everyday until I removed him in 6th Grade after being beaten by three boy’s. I then proceeded to Home School him, until he graduated in 2017. Antonio suffers from PTSD; no child should ever be traumatized in a school environment where he should be safe. I created animals in my stories to make each book kid friendly, keeping the bullying at only name calling, no violence. My focus being to inspire children to take pride in their appearance, to be strong in who they are. That bullies only have Power over you, if you let them. We live in a World where suicide is too common, and we as parents and as a society must bring Bullying of any kind to an abrupt end. This book is the first of a three part series, with the hope of giving emotional support to bullied children all over the world. I poured my heart and soul into each story and hope that I can make a difference in your child’s Life.

All Artwork (c)2017-2018 Lauren Curtis

 To purchase a copy:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07F7CGT4Q/ref=nav_timeline_asin?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1

BE A FRIEND NOT A BULLY: NAMES HURT

This book is the first of a 3 part Series, to help children deal with bullying and diversity. As a Elementary teacher, I have seen first hand the negative effect it has on a child’s self-esteem. My message in each book is the same, be yourself and Stand True. We all have Special & Unique qualities that make us who we are inside. Rosalina Rabbit’s journey is about her appearance changing and while difficult in the beginning, she overcomes all the Name Calling and becomes Proud of how she looks.