If you’re looking for a free viewing of local artist Kristan Ryan’s work, you won’t have to search very hard — try the street right outside the Athens-Clarke County courthouse.

Better known as “ArtGirl,” Ryan is a 72-year-old painter based in Athens who uses her paintbrush to test the boundaries of creative expression and bring peoples’ stories to life.

Throughout her life, Ryan has lived in four different countries, China, Germany, Morocco and the U.S., and has pursued even more careers — the diversity of her experiences are reflected in her work.

Ryan’s approach to creating art includes drawing inspiration from real people she has interacted with, whether it’s a fleeting stranger on the street or the familiar faces she’s known for years.

For every face Ryan paints on a canvas, behind it are someone’s real emotions. She goes by the name “ArtGirl” to encourage more people to share those feelings with her.

“If ArtGirl is speaking to you, then you can just say, ‘Hey, ArtGirl. I want you to paint me,’” Ryan said. “And I’m fine with that. It’s representing what I’m doing.”

Ryan’s art can be divided into four main projects, with the oldest ongoing project titled “Angry Females Done Swallowing Our Words.”

According to Ryan, this collection portrays women around the world who are tired of having to remain quiet about their struggles and appear pleasant for the sake of others.

Most of these pieces are stark portrayals of grief and anger, and some even incorporate aggressive gestures and political statements to authentically capture these women and their battles.

Along with drawing inspiration from her feminism, Ryan also has an appreciation for the human journey through life. Two of her other projects, “From Boys to Men ” and “Girls to Women,” document individuals through different ages to show how they’ve grown.

Ryan’s last project, “Revelation,” dives more into artistic representation for men. The collection features paintings of men’s bodies which may not fit into traditional beauty standards.

Although Ryan’s works focus on representation and capturing the human experience, her bold, often coarse pieces may not be palatable for everyone.

However, Patricia Krahnke, a playwright from Nashville, Ind. who has known Ryan and followed her work since their time together in college, said that she believes that is the appeal of Ryan’s work.

“She’s doing all of these paintings that are not the normal kinds of things that people might want in their house,” Krahnke said. “But they’re so real, they’re so true, that people want them.”

Ryan’s artwork has been displayed in multiple exhibits around the country, from local showings at the Oconee Cultural Arts Foundation’s SouthWorks National Juried Exhibition and the Morton Theatre, to exhibits in Pennsylvania and Florida.

However, her top spot to set up and sell her art is in front of the city courthouse on 325 E. Washington St., where she sells her paintings both on canvas and on less expensive postcards to make her art more accessible.

This unique location is motivated by the conversations Ryan is able to have with those coming in and out of the courthouse, which strongly influence her art.

“I get to speak to a lot of people and I get to find out what’s bothering them politically, and just individually,” Ryan said. “To me, that’s incredibly important, because a lot of them don’t have anyone to talk to about how they’re feeling.”

Susan Morgan, a healthcare worker originally from Louisiana, was a brief employee of Ryan’s and was later painted by Ryan for one of her collections.

Morgan said that seeing her own emotions depicted in a painting changed her relationship with the way she expressed herself in the real world.

“Kris’s work validates just having the feelings that are a part of your psyche,” Morgan said. “Everybody has those feelings, and they’re there, and they’re valid.”