Hi & welcome to Stony Layne Collections. I’m so glad you found your way here. ♡
I’m Lauren Michell (it's pronounced like Michelle) I'm a lifelong artist, sculptor, storyteller, and ringmaster of my own little circus of family, animals, countless plants, and the whimsical world that has grown into Stony Layne Collections.
Before all of this began, I spent years working in the admin & accounting world, while the creative part of me quietly waited in the wings. Around 2020, my artistic roots began tugging at me again, and little by little, I traded spreadsheets for sketchbooks and found my way back to something that had always felt like home.
Long before Stony Layne, I dreamed of creating movie monsters in Hollywood. I studied principles of design, drawing, special FX and editorial makeup, fascinated by the ways a character could be brought to life through shape, expression, color, and tiny details. Life eventually carried me in another direction, but that fascination never really left.
In 2022, I picked up air-dry clay and began sculpting small characters by hand. Those earliest pieces were an experiment and an opportunity to learn, play, and rediscover my own artistic voice. I opened a tiny Etsy shop and began sending my early pieces out into the world. What started there has since evolved into an ever-growing collection of original characters, paintings, illustrations, and stories, each shaped by years of practice, curiosity, and a love for creating worlds of my own.
Along the way, I have continued expanding and honing my craft, including studying ceramics under two wonderful ceramicists. I hope to eventually bring pottery into the world of Stony Layne as well.
Through Stony Layne Collections, I create original characters with a flair for the fantastical. My pieces are often a little peculiar, sometimes spooky, but always have a sweet story tucked somewhere inside. My inspiration comes from vintage Halloween, old fables and folklore, forgotten treasures, childhood nostalgia, the natural world, and the strange little daydreams that tend to follow me around.
Paper clay remains my primary sculpting medium, though my work often incorporates fabric, wood, paper, paint, and vintage trinkets. Every piece is created entirely by hand in my Houston studio. My figurines are sculpted without molds, and painted details and lettering are created freehand, allowing each piece to carry its own individual personality and imperfections.
In 2023, I joined the Johanna Parker Partners in Craft family, an opportunity and creative partnership I remain incredibly proud of. In 2024, with Johanna’s imaginative input, we began creating exclusive JPD Partners in Craft designs for the festive shelves of Traditions.
In 2025, another chapter began as I introduced my original paintings and illustrations alongside my sculptural work. Painting opened an entirely new doorway for my characters and their stories, allowing the world I had been building in three dimensions to wander onto paper as well. It also brought me closer to a longtime dream of writing and illustrating stories featuring my original characters.
And in 2026, that dream took another very special step forward when my artwork and storytelling were selected for a seven-page feature in Autumn Brilliance magazine. Seeing characters I had developed over time, and the stories I had poured so much of myself into, recognized in this way marked a meaningful milestone in my journey as both an artist and storyteller.
What began as a quiet return to creativity has grown into something far greater than I imagined when I first picked up clay again in 2022. Stony Layne has become a place for all of my strange little ideas to belong. A world of characters, stories, paintings, and handmade enchantments that continues to grow right alongside me.
Rediscovering my art has felt, in so many ways, like finding my way back home to my inner child.
Thank you for being here, for welcoming these characters into your homes and hearts, and for following along to see where this winding 'Layne' leads next. ♡
