Artist Gurm was born in India, grew up in China and currently resides in Thailand. Having grown up and been schooled in an international environment, immersed throughout in a multi-cultural atmosphere, she has always been fascinated with the unique cultural elements and stories from all over the world. After following art as a passion since her middle school days, she honed her skills by doing a Masters in Visual Arts (Studio Art) in Hong Kong. She works in the medium of drawing, painting and mixed media, and also enjoys writing and vlogging. She has had several solo exhibitions in China and has gained recognition of her art globally. Gurm’s artistic inspiration comes from everyday life. She is interested in creating works that represent the familiar world around us. By looking beyond the obvious, Gurm reconstructs the everyday environment around us into something artistically unique, which allows the audience to discover beauty in unusual places.
For Gurm, art is not only a way to express herself, but also a therapeutic path of self-discovery. She likes to think that she has not found art, but rather art has found her. She perceives art as a medium to radiate bliss and peace of mind, and to bring life to the present moment. Gurm wants people to look at her artworks and experience the same feeling she has while creating them – freedom, satisfaction, and a journey of self-reflection.

See and Learn about Gurm's art at https://gurmsart.com

Top 5 Songs of Encouragement
1) "Imagine" by John Lennon
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ugrAo8wEPiI
2) "Lean on Me" by Bill Withers
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dtC1W-6hwIU
3) "Firework" by Katy Perry
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QGJuMBdaqIw
4) "This is Me" from the Greatest Showman
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CjxugyZCfuw
5) "Best Day of My Life" by American Authors
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y66j_BUCBMY

Lauren Best lives where the Pottawatomi River meets Georgian Bay, on the territory of the Saugeen Ojibway Nation (now known as Owen Sound, Ontario). She is an interdisciplinary creative with a multifaceted community arts practice interweaving her work as a poet, musician, and composer/creator.

Lauren left her small Ontario town as a young singer-songwriter keyboardist and returned to become Poet Laureate Emeritus (Owen Sound, 2017-2019). Lauren is included alongside other Poets Laureate Emeritus in the City of Windsor’s South Shore Collections series, A Manor of Words: Poetry at the Manor 10th Anniversary Anthology (Black Moss Press, 2022). Her poems are published in Spike: Poems in the Time of Pestilence (Cannon Creek Press, 2021).

Lauren’s 2010 chapbook Resound Re:Sound is a collection of lyrics written in Owen Sound between 2004-2008. Lauren’s music has been heard coast to coast since her debut album release in 2011, and she’s collaborated across genres and art forms with work in music, poetry, theatre, film and digital media.

During more than a decade of community engaged arts, Lauren has partnered across sectors spanning education, cognitive neuroscience research, healthcare, social service, and cultural organizations. In 2022 she teamed up with Seattle-baed saxophonist Steve Treseler to create the Infinite Improvisation Podcast.

Lauren’s new performance pieces combine poetry from her first full-length poetry book Just Leaves (2023), set within a soundscape of keyboard and vocal improvisation paired with lyric melodies.

You can find Lauren on socials and at https://laurenbest.com or at https://bestpracticearts.com/index.html

Lauren's Top 5 Songs of Encouragement:
1) This Joy by The Resistance Revival Chorus
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1TbDPwA09Bc&t=15s
2) Soy Yo by Bomba Estereo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bxWxXncl53U&t=48s
3) Fool for Waiting by Dan Mangan
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8W4sCAl1qzY
or https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iJjDQ_OzLt8
4) Mississippi Nuthin' by Shovels & Rope
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mMKxTjo21bI&t=21s
5) Don't Quit on Me by Richard Laviolette
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XVBDEsGcj8g&t=95s

Lauren Best lives where the Pottawatomi River meets Georgian Bay, on the territory of the Saugeen Ojibway Nation (now known as Owen Sound, Ontario). She is an interdisciplinary creative with a multifaceted community arts practice interweaving her work as a poet, musician, and composer/creator.

Lauren left her small Ontario town as a young singer-songwriter keyboardist and returned to become Poet Laureate Emeritus (Owen Sound, 2017-2019). Lauren is included alongside other Poets Laureate Emeritus in the City of Windsor’s South Shore Collections series, A Manor of Words: Poetry at the Manor 10th Anniversary Anthology (Black Moss Press, 2022). Her poems are published in Spike: Poems in the Time of Pestilence (Cannon Creek Press, 2021).

Lauren’s 2010 chapbook Resound Re:Sound is a collection of lyrics written in Owen Sound between 2004-2008. Lauren’s music has been heard coast to coast since her debut album release in 2011, and she’s collaborated across genres and art forms with work in music, poetry, theatre, film and digital media.

During more than a decade of community engaged arts, Lauren has partnered across sectors spanning education, cognitive neuroscience research, healthcare, social service, and cultural organizations. In 2022 she teamed up with Seattle-baed saxophonist Steve Treseler to create the Infinite Improvisation Podcast.

Lauren’s new performance pieces combine poetry from her first full-length poetry book Just Leaves (2023), set within a soundscape of keyboard and vocal improvisation paired with lyric melodies.

You can learn more about Lauren and order her book, Just leaves at www.laurenbest.com

You can also collaborate with Lauren by checking out https://bestpracticearts.com/index.html

Tune in for Part II to hear Lauren's Top 5 Songs of Encouragement and MUCH MORE!