Published: March 15, 2024 | By: Laura

Featured Image: Abstract painting with warm earth tones

Every artist has a moment that changes everything. For me, that moment came through meeting Genesis Tremaine – not the artist, whose work continues to thrill me.  I met her as a character that emerged from my canvas during a particularly challenging period in my life.

I was working late, struggling with a piece that just wouldn’t come together. The colors felt wrong, the composition lifeless. As a working artist juggling day jobs and night school, these moments of creative block felt like personal failures. But sometimes, our greatest breakthroughs come from our deepest struggles.

That night, instead of fighting the canvas, I let my hands move freely. What emerged was unexpected – a figure that seemed to carry both strength and vulnerability. I  named the woman I created that night after Genesis Tremaine, and she became the foundation for my transition from abstract work to the minimalist portraits that define my art today.

Genesis taught me that art isn’t just about technique or training. It’s about authentic expression and the courage to let your truth emerge on canvas. She represents every person of color who has had to recreate themselves, who has had to find their voice in spaces that weren’t designed for them.

Genesis Tremaine isn’t just a painting; she’s a testament to resilience, growth, and the power of artistic expression to heal and inspire. And she is the one painting, I’ve decided to keep, just for myself.

Looking at this piece today, I see the beginning of my artistic evolution. From that moment of creative surrender I hope has come a body of work that speaks to collectors and art lovers worldwide.

Some day, I hope to meet the real Genesis Tremaine not just to tell her what a great painter I think she is, but how she also inspired me to make a breakthroughs in my art and my life.