My love of art and passion to draw comes from deep within. However, it was my mother, who encouraged me from a small child to draw everything around me. This passion has been passed onto my sons, Mark and Sean McLaughlin who had stories told in drawings and now, themselves are artists. We are a family who learn and teach about the world through observation, drawing and art. I received a distinction in Art at ‘A’ level, GCSE examination and three years later spent six months studying for a diploma in graphic design. This was followed by various courses in still life, portrait and landscape painting. My favourite subjects to paint and draw are portraits of indigenous people from all over the world. These pictures now belong to my family; my brother John in particular and close friends. I am comfortable painting still life pictures, but my great love is painting flowers and gardens, as seen in this picture. The techniques I use best are oils, oil pastels and crayons.

- Quote from artist

The Gift Returned Exhibition 2009

an exhibition of prints. These images were constructed in the ‘paint box’ on the artist’s computer while she was undergoing trauma therapy guided by Margaret Green. The content of the works reflect an incident that took place in 1998, when Lauraine Vivian was director of the Health Systems and Development Unit in Limpopo Province. In this capacity she received a crude death threat which insidiously incapacitated her to the extent that her sleep was troubled and she could not sign her name. Upon completion of the therapy and the series she felt able to give back in art form, to the givers of the threat – forgiveness. South African history is fraught with transgressions such as this. Lauraine Vivian’s story is not unique. In exhibiting these works on a public platform she seeks to address the memory of the trauma on a public level, to build a communal conscience that will not condone threats such as this in future. Ten percent of the sales of each picture will go to the Trauma Centre in Woodstock.

Graphic designer Marco McLaughlin and artist Ellen Norbu have contributed their knowledge of the print media and presentation skills to enable Lauraine Vivian to realize this series in the current format. The finished artwork is printed in pigment on to Innova Fine Art rag paper.