After more than 20 years of painting nails — a very tiny, very temporary medium — nail tech Robin Moses wants to show the world her true passion: her work on canvas. "My artwork is multi-media," says Moses. "I begin with an idea, then collect the things that promote and generate that idea and slowly build layers to my art until I create a story. My work is based on female heroes in mythology and art. I portray famous women in stories both wrathful and peaceful, but all powerful women throughout time."

And she doesn’t limit herself to paint. "You will find string, buttons, cork, mirrors, dried leaves, tickets to concerts I’ve attended, and passages from my favorite novels — all to help tell the tale of the picture I am painting," she says. "There are layers of acrylic paint, spray paint, gesso, and twigs. Everything I use in my paintings speaks its own truth and adds to the story I am trying to tell."

She’s thought a lot, she says, about the difference between painting a nail (you can catch her nail art tutorials at robinmoses.com) and a canvas: "The story is mine as opposed to a design a client chooses and I can add and add and tell an in-depth story on canvas that could never fit on a nail. A canvas lasts forever and many eyes can view it instead of a nail that is washed away in two weeks."