Minnie Evans was born in North Carolina to a family with roots in Trinidad. She married at 16, was employed in domestic service by an affluent white family, and subsequently as the estate's gatekeeper. The fateful moment or turning point in Evans's life took place in 1935. As she was writing a shopping list, she heard a voice which commanded her to paint, and began painting on the paper she held in her hand. The next day she made another painting. These two papers-semi-abstract ink drawings-are currently held in the collection of the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York. She resumed painting only f ive years later, and did not stop since, at times from morning till night, often motivated by inner voices.

- The discovery -
In 1962 Evans met Nina Howell Starr, a photographer who specialized in documentation of folk art in the American hinterlands. The two became friends, a friendship which lasted 25 years, until Evans's death. Howell Starr was largely responsible for introducing Evans to public consciousness.

- The work -
Evans created her first paintings in pencil and ink on paper. Subsequently she also painted in gouache, wax crayons, and even oils. Her paintings generally retain a symmetrical structure, containing images which combine a woman's face (self-portrait) and plants originating in nature, and in dreams and visions. Her work as gatekeeper furnished her a daily sojourn amidst f lowers and animals, enabling her to paint for long hours.