CLEVELAND — Stina Aleah said she turned to art after she suffered an injury that ended her high school athletic career.

“Back in the day, people were like write your feelings down. Write those down. I really could not,” Aleah said. 

Aleah said art became a way to heal herself. She said picking up the paintbrush in 2016 gave her new purpose. 

“I was not good at art whatsoever, but that feeling that I had when I was creating something out of nothing, I just couldn't let go,” Aleah said. 

That feeling lead this self-taught artist to open her own studio, Stina Aleah, in 2021 and she’s since found success. She said she's provided artwork to major brands such as Disney’s Marvel, Complex, Bleacher Report and the NBA.

She said through art, she's found much more than success. She's found an outlet, a place of peace as she works on pieces that reflect her inner thoughts, anxieties and emotions.

She said her emotions have been heightened because of the coronavirus pandemic, racial injustice, and most recently, school shootings like the one in Uvalde, Texas. She said these events hit close to home, causing her to immediately turn to a canvas.

“When my son learned about the school shootings, and the fear that he started to have about school and not feeling safe and being confused, I needed to get that out for the both of us," Aleah said. "I needed to be able to express what he was feeling in my art along with my own feelings." 

Aleah said she is using her arts and talents to inspire others, including her son, to seek an outlet. She said she's teaching them coping skills based in creativity. 

“I feel like this is the best representation of my son and younger kids who might be feeling the same or similar,” she said.