Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Christina Kent. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Christina, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today What’s been the most meaningful project you’ve worked on?

This year I did 50 paintings in 50 days for a special exhibition, and my theme for the series was “Simply Loving What is Here.” My idea was to capture small but beautiful moments from my daily life. At first I was worried about my choice – would I be able to find enough beautiful moments, enough moments worthy of painting, in such a short amount of time? I began paying close attention to everything I saw each day, searching for inspiration. And the cool thing was that the more I looked for beauty, the more I found it. I would see it in the shapes of the ingredients as I prepared a meal, in the way the blue evening light reflected on my kitchen table, in the simple plants in my neighbor’s yards.

Through this project I created a visual journal of these intimate moments from my life. But it was also meaningful because it shifted my perspective – it encouraged me to pay more attention to what was right in front of me. I used to always be rushing from one thing to the next, so busy that I would miss all of these beautiful moments. Since starting this project, I’ve begun to pause more in my day and notice these moments when they arise.

Christina, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I’ve made art for as long as I can remember, but when I was younger I had no idea how someone could make a living as a painter without being wealthy or well-connected. So instead, I pursued what I thought was a more serious career in economics research. After studying economics in college, I went on to graduate school, honing my ability to see the world through a rational, scientific lens.

However, in the last years of graduate school, I was feeling burned out and that something was missing from my life. I kept feeling a calling to go back to painting and develop my artistic practice. I began working on small paintings each day of still lifes using objects around my house, and immediately felt a spark of passion again. Not only was I feeling inspired, but painting also changed the way I saw the world. Rather than looking at the world through a cold, rational lens, I began looking with the eyes of a painter. Suddenly, I could see so much beauty all around me that I had previously ignored. I became fascinated with this visual experience, and set out to explore this through my work.
Over time, my paintings have grown from small still life paintings to large figures and landscapes. I paint a variety of subjects, mostly from scenes from my everyday life, and my work often evokes feelings like joy, peace, and nostalgia. Since moving to San Francisco in 2021, I’ve also started to paint cityscapes, inspired by how the architecture of the city combines with its rolling hills to create beautiful urban views.

I work in a style of loose realism, trying to capture the beauty of what is in my environment onto the canvas in confident, energetic brush strokes. My paintings strike an elegant balance between detail and simplicity, with some parts clearly defined and other parts left ambiguous, inviting the viewer’s imagination. Through painting the scenes around me, I show how everyday objects and landscapes can be transformed into things of beauty with the right attention.

My dream is to share this way of seeing with others through my paintings and also through my videos on youtube and Instagram. While I exhibit my work often in San Francisco, I also love connecting with my fans online. Through my Etsy shop I’ve sold paintings to collectors across the US and internationally. It’s amazing how the internet has made art much more accessible to everyone, not just the wealthiest collectors. As an independent artist, I share my art, my studio, and my creative process with fans around the world so that they can feel inspired and uplifted in their day.

Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?

My mission is to bring beauty into people’s everyday lives through painting. I think a lot of us go through life missing all of the beautiful moments that occur throughout our days. We don’t think that our simple house, our bedroom, or our neighborhood block, are worthy of much notice. We think we need to go to a museum, or to a beautiful place in nature, to connect with a sense of awe. However, painting has taught me that this isn’t true. You can have a simple scene of orange slices on a plate, and if the sun hits it just right, they glow with stunning intensity. Or the light from a window can reflect against a wood cutting board, casting a beautiful warm glow onto the windowsill. These are small but magical moments that anyone can experience. Through my paintings, I catch these moments from my daily life, so that others can find similar moments in their lives as well.

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

I’ve been making art for as long as I can remember, drawing since I was a child and painting with acrylics and oils in high school. As a teenager, I was excited by the challenge of hyperrealist painting, and I honed my technical skills to make my paintings look like photographs. I thought that making perfectly realistic paintings was the key to making great art. However, I was plagued by comments from my inner critic, which told me that the paintings were not good enough. I was aiming for a perfect painting that was constantly out of reach. After all, my paintings could never really match the photo. I lost motivation, and over the years I painted less and less.

That all changed in 2020 when I learned about daily painting. Daily painting is the practice of making a small painting each day, getting inspiration from simple objects you have at home. The focus is to paint quickly, often using a set time limit, to capture the essence of an object rather than getting stuck in the details. Daily painting forced me to give up my need for perfection. After all, it’s impossible to paint a perfect painting in just two hours. Once I let go of these expectations, I found I was able to enjoy the painting process again. I began experimenting with different colors, brush strokes, and subject matter. And the cool thing was that I was actually making better paintings. While my old, photorealistic paintings felt tight and restrained, my new paintings had an energy and freshness to them that I had never seen in my work. Plus, without the fear of having to create a perfect painting, I felt less pressure and was able to paint more freely. For so many years, I thought my perfectionism was making my work better, but I learned that to really grow as an artist, I had to embrace the imperfect.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.christinakentart.com
• Instagram: @christinakentart
• Twitter: @chriskentart
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC4ZdydXqUXPZsx7OifsMbrA
• Other: Etsy: www.etsy.com/shop/christinakentart Tiktok: @christinakentart