As wet paint brushes glide across the blank canvases, adding vibrant splashes of colour, the female artists are whisked away into a world where they are free to be unapologetically themselves — a space where soft laughter and words of encouragement fill the air. A place where women can come together to form new friendships and unleash the inner child society has forced them to bury away deep down inside them.
This is the world of Original Genes, a small art business that welcomes femininity with open arms.
Despite the changing times, women still find themselves in a constant battle to be taken seriously in the workforce and their daily lives. Research shows the lack of diverse leadership in Canada’s professional institutions stems from “patriarchal, colonial and discriminatory practices,” which form extra barriers for women and marginalized individuals, according to the Canadian Women’s Foundation.
Therefore, they must prove themselves repeatedly to earn the same praise and credibility as their male counterparts. The fight to be heard and respected may cause women to suppress their feminine interests to avoid belittlement, judgement, and shame, as the interests of girls are labelled as “unserious” and “tasteless.”
However, the founder of Original Genes, Stefanie Furgiuele, encourages women to see the strength in femininity by providing them with a space to nurture it through creative expression. Throughout the year, Furgiuele hosts pop-up paint nights at various locations around Toronto.
This includes partnering with women-owned businesses, such as the ice cream shop and wine bar On Third Thought, to foster a female-centric environment while also supporting women’s entrepreneurial success in the process.
After finishing her business degree at McMaster University in 2015, Furgiuele soon began working a job in merchandising. When she realized this wasn’t her calling, Furgiuele forged a new career path. After her work shifts, Furgiuele would come home and head straight for her paintbrush. She would paint various objects on denim jackets based on the trendy, girly inspirations from her Pinterest.
After receiving warm encouragement from her mother to share her artistic talents with the public, Furgiuele decided to combine her business education with her passion for painting to build her dream job of promoting individuality through art.
“The whole concept behind [Original Genes] is being one of a kind. And that’s exactly the sort of motto I pushed into my paint classes as well. Even if we are all painting the same thing, I’m still encouraging everyone to put their own spin on it,” Furgiuele told Her Campus.
What started as a creative hobby to escape from work stress blossomed into a business and an artistic outlet for women and girls to express their passions and interests in a judgement-free environment.
Each painting is tailored towards a specific feminine theme, ranging from female musicians and female-authored novels to fashion trends and vibrant cocktails. Furgiuele’s original designs capture the trendy girl aesthetics found on Pinterest boards to encourage women to envision their paintings as potential room decor rather than old archives that never see the light of day aside from the night they were made.
To foster joy and confidence over stress and embarrassment, Furgiuele walks through her artistic works step-by-step but still encourages painters to experiment with colours, shapes, and styles so the finished piece represents their individual creativity rather than a mirrored replica.
“I always say choose whatever colours you’re feeling that day. Maybe you’re gravitating towards certain colours, or maybe you want to change the painting in a way that speaks to you,” Furgiuele said. “A lot of the time, I encourage people to put lyrics or quotes on the paintings, and that’s where your own form of self-expression can be shown.”
Original Genes breaks the pattern of the typical art classes conducted in schools, which can dim the creative spark through its rigid copy-paste guidelines.
Paige Janssens, 21, had no interest in picking up a paintbrush after high school because of the pressure to make her painting look exactly the same as the class example to receive a good grade.
“I think in school especially, I feel sometimes, if you’re not great at visual art, it is very intimidating, and it’s very competitive,” Janssens said.
However, she has attended a total of five paint nights by Original Genes in the last year because of its warm and vibrant atmosphere.
“Everyone there was just so fun, helpful, and kind to each other, and we were cheering each other on, which I think definitely is very telling of it being a female-centric space,” said Janssens. “It was the first time that I felt like I could go to [an art class], and I’m not worried about what the painting’s gonna look like either way. I’m just there having fun and being creative.”
Rivka Savage, 30, felt the same warm embrace during her first Original Genes paint night, where she and her friend painted dirty martinis with bows.
“That’s the only way I was able to stay because being in that environment was so nice,” Savage said.
For Savage, visual art is fun to observe in museums and galleries, but she said participating in it doesn’t bring her as much joy. However, she decided to step out of her comfort zone because the activity was outside of the typical girls’ night.
“I feel like a lot of times, activities that we do are always, ‘Oh, let’s go have dinner. Let’s have drinks.’ So it was nice to kind of go and do an activity that was unique and just more meaningful,” says Savage.
Whether women attend Furgiuele’s paint nights solo or with their friends, she seats everyone together to help instill a sense of community. Though Savage and Janssens both attended the paint nights with their friends, sitting beside and across from women they didn’t know and trading compliments back and forth allowed them to find confidence in their creative skills and connect with other women in a calm and comfortable setting.
“I’ve met so many cool women there that are in so many different realms of life and different industries. Like you’re making a painting, but you’re also able to network with so many amazing girls,” says Janssens.
While the end result is a new painting, the true takeaway lies beyond the canvas. Furgiuele’s paint nights foster a return to girlhood, a time when women are free to express their feminine interests without society passing judgment. They remind women of the playfulness and pure enjoyment they once had as little girls and the power these unique experiences hold in women to help them redefine strength and self-expression on their own terms.
Overall, Original Genes shows women the art of celebrating their passions and creating something for the sake of enjoyment without society’s stamp of approval.
“Girlhood is magic. And I think more spaces like this need to be created for girls to get together and to be shown that your girlhood is your power. And it’s something that should not be shut down by society, but something that should be lifted up,” says Janssens.