What's in a Name?

What's in a name? For thousands of years, people have chosen names based on meaning. In the Bible, people had their names changed after spiritual transformations. When my brother was a baby, my mom changed his name when she found out his old name had a negative meaning. It's a good thing in this day and age that most people don't believe the meaning of a person's name will predict who or what they will become. My married last name is Graber, meaning "grave digger"!

For me, many people ask where the name LaurenFaythe comes from. It is not my real name. My real name is Susan, but everyone calls me Sue. LaurenFaythe is actually a cumulation of my children's names. When thinking of my retail site name and my blog name, I wanted something other than my own name. I wanted it to be for something other than just myself. My family is very important to me. I wanted my children to be a part of what I do as an artist, and as a person. They give me inspiration and motivation. I want to show them that they can achieve anything they want to. I want to inspire them to reach for their dreams. They only have to try. If it fails, then they keep going.

The painting above is of my kids standing next to a fountain in Beaver Creek about 2 years ago. I love this painting because it really depicts their personalities and how each of these kids approach life.

My oldest is the one on the very right. She is an observer. She doesn't jump into things. She looks and analyzes. She doesn't show much emotion to most people. She is very quiet, but she is always thinking. Because of all her analysis, she is great at everything she does.

My middle child, my son, has to touch everything! He is usually in his own little world creating movies and stories in his mind. He learns by doing. He has to experience and touch ( and make sound effects while doing it). He is full of laughter, and my most easygoing child.

My youngest has to do everything everyone else is doing. Even though she was too short for this fountain, she had to stand on her tippy toes to look at the coins in the fountain. She doesn't care if she is small, she will bowl her way through a crowd to get the best seat in the house! She charms everyone she meets.

Below is the photo I used to paint the painting above:

So that, in a nutshell, is where LaurenFaythe comes from.