Lauren Mills is only 13 years old, but the legally blind teen has been creating art for as long as she can remember.
Lauren has Nystagmus, a condition that causes involuntary, fast-paced eye-movement. But the 9th grader at Peterson Seventh-Day Adventist Academy (US) is proving to be a shining inspiration to many who meet her and see her paintings.
“I’m extremely proud,” says Leah Mills-Chapman, Lauren’s mother, who told 7 Action News that with the support of family and her faith in God, Lauren has been able to move past being bullied to become a young teen who no longer wants to blend into a crowd.
“Being like everyone else is so not cool,” said Lauren surrounded by her paintings. “I want to be like this for the rest of my life. I don’t want anyone to take my style.”
Pat Mills, Lauren’s grandmother, told Action News that she wanted to find a way for others to see and appreciate the talent God gave Lauren, so she recently paid for the teen to have her own booth at an art festival in Ypsilanti.
Lauren realizes that because of her eye condition she will probably never be able to drive, but she says, jokingly, if she sells enough art, she’ll pay her sister to be her chauffeur.
