Dive with me for a moment into a beautiful world powered by a creative mind where theories in philosophy come to life through craft works and fine art.
Lauren Judge is a local professional artist, practicing since 2009, who recently earned her Doctor of Philosophy in Geography from Wilfrid Laurier University (2024), with a dissertation titled “Making the Pluriverse Visible: World-Making on the Saugeen (Bruce) Peninsula.” Her research explores how artists (herself included) collaborate with non-human elements in their work, shaping a world that embraces more than just human perspectives. This ties directly into her art—she’s all about creating a “pluriverse,” where humans, nature, and materials work together to make something beautiful.
For decades this inspirational woman has been in the local art scene. If you’ve wandered past my art Studio at 44 Gaukel, you likely have seen her gorgeous mural, “My Starry Night” painted on a shipping container used for craft shows. Or if you’ve ever taken the ION LRT through Fairway Station, you couldn’t miss her large mosaic titled “Arras”. Lauren collaborated with Elana Zur to transform an LRT stop into a vibrant, textural masterpiece—200 square feet of glass mosaic patterns based on iconic fabric designs, an installation designed to remind us of the decades of culture and commercial businesses along that corridor.
Before mosaics and ceramics, Lauren started as a painter who experimented with modern abstraction. Her acrylic works are bold, intuitive, and full of clean, crisp layers. She creates with a mix of spontaneity and precision, making each piece feel both raw and deliberate. If you’re lucky enough to meet Lauren when you purchase a piece, she will describe to you her ‘aleatoric’ process – a random poured outline, but intentional colour applications. The canvas comes alive when she describes the connections between her art and philosophical approach, which is certainly influenced by her scholarly research. I mean, besides receiving her PhD in 2024, in 2005 she earned a Master’s of Arts in Public History from the University of Waterloo, and in 2003 an Honours Bachelor of Arts in History & Humanities (Double Major) at York University. Lauren’s artistic inspiration goes way back—she learned about painting from her father, Martin Ronald Judge, a talented local portrait artist and feminist sci-fi writer (talk about a creative gene pool!). Since 2009, she’s been building a name for herself professionally, with her paintings now in private collections across Canada, the U.S., and the Netherlands.
If you are looking to add to your collection check out Lauren’s website:
https://www.laurenjudge.com/
I can say with full confidence: you haven’t seen anything yet. This brilliant woman is just getting started and the best is yet to come.
Helen Fidler seeks to create beautiful spaces that evoke strong emotions in her audience. Her bold and unique visual vocabulary observes her favourite artists and architects, such as Frank Lloyd Wright and Jackson Pollock. She free-flows from surrealism into an unrestrained abstract style when she paints, which carries over into her interiors when decorating clients’ homes. “My art is an expression of how I work through the troublesome realities of this world in a way that hopes to bring beauty to everything I touch,” she explains. For her, designing gorgeous interiors and creating stimulating paintings are essential to making the world around her a more beautiful space.
