Coastal Ink Studios

Coastal Ink Studios is a proud creator of high quality archival fine art prints, beautiful postcards for a variety of occasions, and passionate original artwork. At Coastal Ink Studios all original artwork is created by Kristi McDonald using a variety of materials including oil, acrylic, watercolor, colored pencil and graphite. -Behind The Artist-... Kristi McDonald, originally from Thamesville, Ontario, Canada, graduated with a BA from Brock University. She is an emerging artist who works primarily in drawing and painting mediums such as graphite, ink, oil, watercolour, and acrylic paints. Her interests lie within figurative subject matter. After spending some time exploring non-representational experimental art she has recently spent more time exploring natural themes, with a focus on plants and animals, primarily through the use of watercolour. -Professional Qualifications- She has been in several group and juried exhibitions and has received several academic and non-academic awards for recognition of her work, and has become a consistent contributor to private collections across Ontario. Her work was selected in 2015 for an international show curated by Janet Werner named "From Likeness to Fiction" which directly explored the contemporary portrait. During her final year of post-secondary education she put together a solo exhibition that focused on the relationship between representational and non-representational subject matter, often juxtaposing these themes in her work in order to further explore their relationship. -Recent Focus- Over the past few years since founding Coastal Ink Studios she has been increasingly focused on creating custom commissions with a focus on portraiture. She has also become an active participant in local industry shows, enhancing the approachability of the pieces she creates for Coastal Ink Studios. She is currently working and residing in Kitchener Ontario, Canada.

Koko & Dusty 5x7 inches. Watercolour on Heavy Arches paper. 2020. Koko and Dusty are my two new favourite cat siblings. I had the privilege to paint these two cuties as a Christmas gift for my client’s family. This commission was an absolute dream to paint! From start to finish, it all just fell into place with total ease. I love the relaxing, cool-purple undertones in this painting. The colours evoke a feeling of serenity and calmness that these two sleeping kitties are... channelling. I can’t get enough of their sweet little faces and tiny little toes. Something about their little faces makes me want to curl up with my own cats. Add a book, a cup of tea, and a soft (purple) blanket for some extra zen. Thank you @alyssser for asking me to paint these two darlings.

It’s time to talk about it: Valentine’s Day. *cue scary music* Traditionally, this day is notoriously focused on celebrating romantic love and seemingly being only for significant others. I’m not saying we shouldn’t celebrate the romantic love in our lives because we absolutely should. But V-Day is not just for the couples! This year I am dedicating Valentine’s Day to celebrating the love I have with everyone in my life! That includes bffs, nieces/nephews, siblings, parents..., significant others, etc. It’s time to shower ALL of our loved ones in...love! These past months have been hard on all of us and we haven’t been able to get together the way we used to. You know what’s a really great way to say I love you or I wish we could be together or I miss you (or all of the above)? With a coastal ink studios postcard, of course! Let’s face it, everyone loves to get a special letter in the mail. It’s a small gesture, but one that will surprise and delight. Don’t you remember getting a special valentine’s day card when you were a kid? That’s the joy we want to spread this year! We have an abundance of postcard options to choose from, and with our mix and match bundles, you can save when you buy sets of 3, 6 or 12 postcards. Here we’ve showcased our favourites from the collection that we feel would be a perfect way to say Happy Valentines Day to your favourite person/people. There’s so many more designs to browse on our website. Pssst...Our cards are also great for framing, too (which makes for a great multipurpose gift)! While it might seem early, V-Day is right around the corner! Shopping early will guarantee you get your Valentine’s Day cards on time so you can deliver them to your lovies. So I’m encouraging you to do so NOW (or soon)! Shop our postcard bundles on our etsy shop and/or coastalinkstudios.com (link in bio). Contactless LOCAL PICKUP options are also available upon request! Have a question? Send us a DM or email.

Opie 5x7 Inches. Watercolour on Heavy Arches Paper. Everyone, meet Opie. Can I just say, this guy is SO handsome. He’s got the sweetest little eyes and looks absolutely dapper with his bow tie. Note to everyone: this is an open call for submissions of your furry babes in their formal attire (or any attire, really). I won’t object. I actually painted this in September 2020, which truly seems like ages ago. My client wanted to have this painting made for her twin sister as... a Christmas gift and she booked early! Thanks so much @kelseysmith100 for asking me to paint this special portrait for your sister (and for Opie too).

Spook, Kaiya, Logan 8x10 Inches. Watercolour on Heavy Arches Paper. I’ve been looking forward to sharing this painting with you all for literal months! Sometimes delayed gratification makes these posts even sweeter. I think we all need a little extra happiness in our lives right now, and that’s just what this adorable trio does for me. This was a very special commission commemorating the beautiful Kaiya (the sweet angel in the middle). I remember when I was painting this ...I had a sense that each of these little souls were so unique, even though I have never met them. Their personalities were so evident in the photographs and I sincerely hope I’ve been able to translate that through paint. Every time word gets back to me about how deeply my paintings impact the recipients I do a happy dance. It means so much to me. I’ll remember this one forever. It’s always such an honour to be able to memorialize furry family members, and this was an exceptional case where I got to paint not just one, but three, furry friends.

Have you noticed? Coastal Ink Studios is now on Youtube! If you did, you might have noticed this video already. I’m so pleased with how the project turned out and even more excited to *officially* give it the spotlight it deserves. Last November, I was presented with the opportunity to work with @philosiapictures to create a short video about my studio! I needed something short, sweet, and professional which was exactly what was delivered. Brad had the idea of shooting around... the countryside of our rural hometown with some older large scale paintings of mine. All four of us set out at dusk to get some drone footage in multiple locations. The juxtaposition of my large scale paintings in the rural landscape made for some incredible shots. They ended up being some of my favourite moments in the video and a highlight of our collaboration. Thanks Brad and Mike, you did a great job. Make sure to check out their page for some other independent work they have done. You can also check out the longer version of this video (and bonus Etsy version) by clicking the link in my bio! So, what is the future for the Youtube channel? Admittedly, while it may have been made out of necessity, I’ve always wanted to create a Youtube channel to share my art with a wider audience. I think there are so many creative ways to share and provide content that people can engage with and would benefit from. If it had been up to me I would have had a whole six month rollout plan with content already made. But last year taught me that sometimes you just need to go with the flow and realize there is no time like the present. So, I’m approaching this as a new opportunity that I might not be completely prepared for, but will accept openly. I can’t promise a lot of consistency right now, but I do want to create a space that YOU will enjoy. That’s what makes this next question so important: What kind of content would you like to see on the Coastal Ink Studios channel? Anything from tutorials, product reviews, art supply essentials, techniques, the list is endless! Leave a comment (or dm me) with your desires, ideas, and wishes and I’ll see what I can do!

Maria Jose Vieira 16x20 inches. Oil on Canvas. 2020. Happy New Year, everyone! I’m so excited to kick off the new year after a low-key holiday (and after a very WILD holiday season). There’s been a lot of painting going on the past few months that I haven’t been able to share until now. For our first post of 2021, I wanted to share this very special commission that I finished in December. My client wanted to surprise his wife for Christmas with an oil painting of her late... mother. It’s not very often that I am able to paint with oils, so I was more than excited for the opportunity and challenge with this portrait. This is also one of the second largest portraits I have painted in 2020. I’m so proud of the end result. I’m not sure if I should confess this, but I always get a bit nervous when I start working on a new project. I want every detail to be perfect and accept nothing less. A lot of hours went into this painting to make it just right. It was absolutely worth it (it always is). I was thrilled to hear that the gift was a hit with both my client and his wife. I’m so honoured to have made this beautiful memorial portrait that created a lot of joy and love. #oil #oilpainter #oilportraitpainter #oilpainti #artistsoninstagram #coastalinkstudios #love #oilpainting #kwawesome #hamilton #ontario #love #canadian #canadianartist #shopsmall #local #handmade #handmadecommunity #canadianartist #christmas #craftadian #ontarioartist #ontariosmallbusiness #portrait #watercolour #watercolor #watercolourpainting #portraitartist #portraiture #portraitpainting #commission #gift #family #memorial