Meet Lauren Hogan

We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Lauren Hogan. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Lauren below.

Hi Lauren, thanks for sharing your insights with our community today. Part of your success, no doubt, is due to your work ethic and so we’d love if you could open up about where you got your work ethic from?

I grew up in a house hold that taught me hard work is everything. You can’t sit around and expect things to be handed to you…that’s simply not how life works. My Dad instilled in me at a young age that I can do whatever I want in this life if I put forth the effort…and to take my passions and mold them into a career. He owned his own computer business, while squeezing in music and house projects into whatever little free time there was. He always had a “if you want something done right, do it yourself” attitude…I feel like I’ve carried that in many ways-which has come in handy starting my own business. My parents both saw my creative and artistic talents from a young age, so they made sure I utilized my time well exploring my talents, whether it be entering art competitions, taking piano lessons, or dance classes. They set the stage for me to dial in to what I wanted to explore as a career in my adult years. The art industry is a bit of a challenge, so there’s no room for the weary when it comes to networking and advertising.

Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?

To put it simply…I’m an artist and business owner of Lauren Alexandra Art, a musician, decorator, creator….if it’s in the arts, I’ve probably dabbled with it. I specialize in unique portraits (musicians with lyrics, or loved ones with their favorite song in the background), musical mixed-media pieces, and oil landscapes. I even offer photography, album art design, etc. As far as my visual art becoming my career….well it took a bit to get there. Where did it all begin? …I was born in San Diego in 1988, and grew up just south of Nashville in Franklin, TN. As a child, it was obvious I loved the arts in all forms. I started painting the moment I could pick up a paint brush, I entered art competitions, and took dancing and piano lessons. Art and music always consumed me. As far as my taste in music, I was the black sheep of the family, being the rocknroll lover . I grew up surrounded by musical talent, watching my grandfather, Stu Phillips, sing at the Grand Ole Opry, and my father writing singer/songwriter-style ballads on the piano, while my Mom loved her disco. So I’m sure you can imagine my parents’ expressions when they started hearing me blast Nirvana, Deftones, Minor Threat, and Blink-182 from my bedroom after school. But, my musical tastes aside, my parents were always supportive of my dreams and pushing me to work hard and do what I love.
My senior year of high school, my art was displayed in the Frist Art Museum in Nashville. It was inspired by my first huge trip to Europe, where I realized street art and abstract design were going to start evolving my own style. I submitted my art portfolio for a college credit and received a perfect score, so even though I was on the fence about pursuing a college degree for art, I attended MTSU to major in Visual Art. I came to a crossroads after 2 years….I was working 2 jobs in Franklin because I refused to have student loans, studying crazy, long hours, and realized I had no time to actually just sit and paint…or play piano. As an artist, if we’re lost in a place that feels uninspiring…well….that’s a problem, and something must change! So, I packed up my things, left MTSU, and got an apartment in Nashville. I started bartending downtown, and had flexible hours so I could paint, travel, and I even found myself picking up a bass and teaching myself how to play.
In 2008, my best friend, Mijo, and I formed a rock band called The Notion. We played downtown frequently and toured numerous times. I designed our band art, and always kept my painting up on the side, selling a few pieces here and there. I even designed all the Hard Rock Café souvenir pins for years….but I was so busy living the downtown double-shift and musician life, so there wasn’t much time to pursue that art passion on a higher level.
Fast forward to right before the pandemic. I’m still bartending, and trying to squeeze in time for painting. My talented friend of 10 years, Stacy Hogan, asked me to play bass on tour with his personal rock project, Sin Shake Sin. On March 8, 2020 we set out on the road to open up for Alice Cooper’s daughter’s band, Beasto Blanco. We are only about 5 shows in (half-way through the tour), and the world literally starts shutting down around us from Covid. It felt like we were in the horror movie, 28 Days later. So we come home, and my bartending job shuts down…multiple times. At this point, I’m wondering how to make money…I have a mortgage to pay. So I post online I’m available to do custom painting commissions. My friend saw an old portrait I did of John Lennon…(it was my unique abstract style with pops of color and lyrics in the background, with Lennon’s portrait in the foreground), so he asks, “Hey, can you make me a huge Bob Marley portrait in the style you did Lennon? But huge?” So I got to work making a 4’x3′ painting for him…he posted it complete, and simply by word of mouth, I started having consistent commissions coming in. I advertised, “pick the artist and your favorite song, and I’ll paint it.” I even had requests coming in for family member portraits. And so my commissions grew.
So now where am I at? Well, I just kept painting. After my job in Nashville finally re-opened from multiple pandemic shut-downs, on Christmas day 2020, a suicide bomber blew up 2nd Ave where my bar, Buffalo Billiards was. At this point, it was clear to me the universe liked this whole art path I was on. So now, I live out in Gallatin, TN, I’m officially a business owner and painting full time…I have an online art store featuring my paintings and photography, I have constant commissions, I set up at multiple markets across middle TN, and I sell my art at a local art store, The Artisan Hatchery. In addition, I created an art class over a year ago called, Canvas N’ Cocktails, where I combine art and bartending by featuring a different “mocktail” each class, and take everyone through a painting step-by-step. No experience needed, just a fun no-pressure paint class, and the adults can drink! My website is always updated with new dates, and I stay busy with plenty of private events for Canvas N’ Cocktails…if there’s a group of 6 or more for a private event, they can pick the painting and mocktail, and have the choice to come to the gallery or I can come to them….it’s been exciting to see that grow! I’m constantly challenging myself with new endeavors, styles of art, and I always welcome fresh ideas for custom commissions.
I’m now married to Stacy Hogan who has been beyond supportive of my business…and on the musical side of things, we just released his new single for Sin Shake Sin called “Your New Civil War”. It’s a powerful piece about the intentional divide created by 24 hour news corporations who skew and sensationalize every aspect of American life. It’s streaming everywhere, and the music video is up on YouTube with almost 70K views already.
I’ve always wanted to be at a point where I dedicate my career to art and music…it took some time, but I’m finally there after years of hard work. It’s all been a wild ride, but I have had amazing support from my loved ones, and I can’t wait to see what the years will bring for opportunity and networking! Every person that’s bought a painting, shared a post, or come out to an art class has made my dream a reality.

Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?

First of all, I’ve always been a big risk-taker. I traveled solo many times, climbed mountains, jumped off cliffs, hopped on a plane to travel the world. Now, I’m not saying go jump off a cliff to succeed, but I think being able to jump into situations feet-first and take the risk can lead to more opportunity. Don’t be scared to introduce yourself to someone that might impact your career, take that phone call, enter a competition. Show up. Take the risk. It could be the career-making decision.
Second, organization…..my mother is the queen of organization, so while I could never claim to be as good as her, I’ve learned a lot from her skills. I’m a list person. I need to see what I have going on event-wise, what my art inventory is, and keep it organized at all times or my head will spin out of control.
And third, my social skills from bartending for 15 years contribute to the ability to network and connect with people. That’s so important as an artist to be able to read a client and try to not only communicate with them about what they want, but then how to connect that to canvas and make it a reality. Communication is everything.

How would you describe your ideal client?

Anyone. If you are coming to me, it means you love what I create and you have an idea…something you saw of mine inspired you enough to go out of your way to contact me. It’s an honor. And it’s why I love what I do. It’s up to me to visualize what the client needs, whether it be a portrait, pet, musical piece, or landscape, and turn that idea into a reality. People don’t always know how to describe what they want, so it’s up to me to ask the right questions. Sometimes I’m asked to do a portrait of a client’s loved one who has passed on…those projects are always a high honor (and a little nerve-racking!)…this person is trusting me to keep their loved one’s memory alive through art (no pressure!). And I want to make it personal. This goes beyond a photograph of them. What was their favorite color so I can incorporate it, what was their favorite song or poem so I can add font in the background….these are all unique and important features I combine to make the client connect with their special piece.
My favorite moment with my client is when they see their commissioned piece for the first time. Sometimes clients are out of town and I have to ship their piece..so I ask them to film it, especially if it’s a surprise for a loved one. That moment to me is everything. Seeing the joy, surprise, smiles, and sometimes even tears, is an indescribable feeling. I want to spread art like wildfire, and spread it faster than all the hate that’s out there in this world right now. If I can bring happiness and inspiration to someone, that’s mission accomplished.

Contact Info:

Image Credits

Lauren Hogan, Stacy Hogan, Josh Lockhart

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