Rather than using precisely defined brushstrokes in her pieces, painter Rae Broyles largely uses washes of color to achieve the images she sees in her mind’s eye, allowing her concept to take shape with very little guidance from her hand to create pieces evocative of the emotion she herself experiences and visually connect others with everything that inspires her passion. Every piece Rae creates speaks of a time in her life—what she sees in the world around her, what events are taking place.

There’s a freedom in her work, freedom of movement and depth and emotion, unapologetic for whatever it may elicit of its viewer. And it’s that freedom to explore pain, happiness, wonder, anger—experience them by turns in every piece and every color and texture and stroke—that has drawn her audience and made her work so incredibly relevant.