One of the great things about Artweeks is that it provides a platform for young and up-and coming artists to show what they can do. Some young artists exhibiting this year are doing so for the very first time, and are therefore a little nervous of the public’s reaction to their work. One such youngster is 19-year-old Lauren Buckingham, who is displaying her work at site 109, Harry’s Cottage, East End.

Lauren is a delightful young woman who works mostly in acrylics and graphite on canvas paper. Because she is so young she is at that exciting point in her career where experimentation is everything. This is why visitors will discover pictures of kingfishers and sleeping lions hanging alongside works that are best considered fantasy. The winged woman riding a unicorn for instance. What is she doing? Who is she? And why a unicorn? Lauren has no answers to those questions; she created this particular composition because it excited her, and in the end, when all is said and done, that is as good a reason as any for creating a work of art.

Her work is tight, the lines are fine, the details remarkable. No doubt her style will relax as she matures and sees the world through different eyes. At the moment she is absorbed by scenes of lovers, some of whom she has painted dancing, some in the middle of a lovers’ tiff, and some hungry for a goodnight kiss. The men in her pictures wear velvet, the women are in outfits best suited to a Jane Austen novel.

Lauren’s most prized picture – and one she will not be releasing for sale yet – is a sketch of David Cameron, which he has signed. She copied that one from a photograph. However, Lauren admits there are so many images dancing around in her imagination that she will soon be able to dispense with the camera.

Lauren is exhibiting her work until Sunday. It will interest all those who wish to encourage our young people to succeed and to view the work of a talented young painter during the early stages of their career.