Today we’d like to introduce you to Serenity Crego.
Hi Serenity, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
Like many creatives, I turned to art to escape my reality. I’d spend hours just looking at paintings, dreaming that I’d make something half as skillful as what I found on Google someday. I created a ton of art that wasn’t “good” (in the sense that it didn’t meet my expectations), but it was still therapeutic to create something. Miraculously, I made a painting that looked decent when I was 13, and I showed it to a local professional artist, who helped encourage me to stay interested because I had potential. By 14, I had decided I was going to be a realism oil painter. That same artist who inspired me, over the years, became my teacher, my business partner, my best friend, and my husband.
I’ve created over 85 commissioned paintings and drawings since 2016. Been in a few galleries, had a few exhibitions, opened a gallery, and received multiple grant awards. It’s been such a trip! I get up every morning and look beside me to see my husband. I see a whiteboard with all the work I’ve been blessed enough to take on, we make breakfast and walk to our cozy gallery, and I just think, “Thank you, God!”
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Getting to this point has tried my patience just about daily. There were so many problems we had to solve! I didn’t like canvas, so I had to find a different surface to paint on. (Masonite that we get cut at a local lumber business works best for us!) I went through a few easels before I found the one that worked for me. I learned how to store paint and open tubes after they get stuck (Pliers are a must!), to create my own medium mixture, to keep brushes from turning rock hard, and varnish without accidentally destroying a piece. All of this happens as you’re actually learning the skill. It’s a lot! I am so grateful that I didn’t have to learn all of this by myself and that I had someone that I could lean on and talk to!
Now that I have a very consistent setup, my problems are more mental. An oil painting takes 20-40 hours to create. When I’m on hour 13 of 37, it can be extremely hard to see the final piece and stay motivated. At this point, I’ve had to learn to surrender to the process. I have to give myself a little reality check by thinking, “I might not get this done in this session or the next, but I will be here and present and do my best the entire time.” I have notes on my easel that say “Relax. Be BOLD. Be Patient. Remember to pray.” These reminders help me get back on track, stop feeling so sorry for myself, and remember that I’m living my dream!
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I make very realistic oil paintings and grayscale ink drawings of moments in our everyday lives. My original work is filled with alleyways of the Iron Range, flowers, rusted dumpsters, and even rustier trucks. I paint piles of old tires and trees covered in snow, train tracks, and clouds found looming over highways. There are so many treasured moments that I find myself painting! When you take a deep breath through your nose and smell morning dew – I want to get that feeling out of me, and it turns into an overcast painting of a local dirt road. Or when you close your eyes and feel the sun searing into your eyelids, you can see fleshy red and feel warmth on your face, I paint those moments by going outside on a blistering hot August day, walking around until I see that angle and composition that strikes me, and photograph it. Then I put in my “To Do” pile (which gets bigger and bigger every day), and if the vision is strong enough, 4 months from now I’ll paint it.
I love to create custom paintings! When I get a photo of a dog, I’m not only trying to draw or paint that one picture, I’m striving to capture the hundreds of kisses that dog has received on their nose, and the gleam in their eye after they’ve run through the snow. I really try to see the subjects I’m painting the same way that their loved ones do. It’s necessary to have an outlet to be seen, to connect, to express, and to validate our love. I am so honored that many people have trusted me over the years to create something truly one of a kind for them!
Currently, I am working on a series of self-portraits. I want to capture a different perspective of a human feeling these flashes of being alive. I was awarded a Creative Individual Artist Grant by the Minnesota State Arts Board to create 7 of these portraits, and that’s what I’ve been working on since February 2025. It’s changed the process a lot to think about capturing the reaction of a person interacting with life, instead of just the life itself. It’s been interesting to put myself in such an open position, to literally have myself be the main subject instead of trees or buildings. I feel a bit nervous but also brave for doing this. You know what they say, art is transparent and there’s nothing to hide behind anyway, so the title of the exhibition seems fitting. “Transparency” will open at our gallery (Serenity Crego’s Fine Art Gallery in Hibbing) on Saturday, January 17th, 2026.
Can you tell us more about what you were like growing up?
I was an absolute terror, and I haven’t changed a bit! I’ve always been very animated and outgoing. Being in theatre in elementary school was a really good fit for me. I loved having an outlet to be publicly loud and goofy! Not much has changed, really. My Facebook and YouTube are filled with skits, silly dances, videos, and photos of my art.
I grew up as the only child in my household, which left a lot of time to draw and read. Truly, my best friends growing up were my pets. We spent hours together looking out the windows. My dog would humor me and let me dress him up, and my cat was always kind enough to sit in for 2nd player on a board game. (I always won!) I absolutely understand the role our furry friends fill in our lives, and that’s one of the reasons why I love making pet portraits. They truly are family!
I have an obsession with the alley by my house; coincidentally, it’s also the one right behind the gallery. It’s a familiar sight I’ve seen for almost a decade now. I couldn’t exactly put my finger on why I was so drawn to it. I feel grateful for being able to see the same place year after year, to see the seasons change, and to expect the glow of the street lights gleaming off wet cars and puddles. We moved around quite a bit when I was younger. I had gone to 6 different public schools by 8th grade. To have an alley as a dear friend may seem ridiculous, but I am so thankful that I have been able to get to know a place for so many years. I paint it as it is, with its graffiti and litter. It’s busted windows and overgrown weeds. I think the honesty helps bring comfort to others, like a way to be empathetic and seen. I’m saying, “This is what I know to be true”, and another can say, “Ah, yes. That’s exactly as it is.”
Pricing:
- 11″ x 14″ Oil Painting $400
- 16″ x 20″ Oil Painting $550
- 18″ x 24″ Oil Painting $700
- 8.5″ x 11″ Grayscale Ink Drawing $100
- Want it Framed? Depending on size add: $20 – $50
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.serenitycrego.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theartistserenity/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/serenity.crego
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@serenitysfineart
- Other: [email protected]
