Krystal Lynn

Hello! I'm Krystal Lynn, a contemporary Canadian artist with a vibrant and colourful style that weaves between impressionism, realism, and whimsical.

Originally from Victoria, BC, and now residing in AB, I am a free-spirited island girl living in the prairies. My art is greatly influenced by my upbringing in Canada's "City of Gardens" where the animals are used to large groups of people and walk right up to you. I paint the friendly squirrel that ran towards me to take a peanut from my hand in a field of daisies. I paint the crazy haired chicken at Beacon Hill Park Petting Zoo that would spontaneously drop its head and nap standing up. I paint the lush floral displays and decorated ponds of the Butchart Gardens. In Alberta, I've found the animals are not as used to people, but I work around that. I paint Malvin, the sassy Highland cow and a neighbour of mine, who is constantly distracted with food. I paint the introverted moose who licks trees and poles by himself in the far distance.

People always ask me how long I have been an artist. I respond with all my life! My mom is very creative, and when she was pregnant with me and my sister, she prayed that we would be creative too, and God answered her prayer. She raised two creative but messy daughters! I have this vivid memory of being around the age of two or three, and my mom was doing crafts on the kitchen table when the phone rang. She sternly told me not to touch the paint, but I couldn't resist. As soon as she was out of sight, I climbed onto the table and began my masterpiece. I had a vision and I was going to paint it! When my mom came back, her mouth dropped, and I looked all around me; I had gotten red paint all over the table, the chairs, myself, and all over the cream coloured carpet! My patient mother picked me up and rinsed me in the bathtub and spent hours scrubbing the carpet. So you see, I have been painting all my life!



The Process

My paintings have many intricate layers to them, and move from dark to light. The first layer consists of  deep shadows and outlines, and then I add increasingly lighter layers over top, pulling out more and more details as I paint. Sometimes I use my fingertips to paint. Other times I wildly draw a loose outline, and passionately fling paint onto the canvas. I try to paint fast because I find it gives a looser feel and infuses a sense of movement and energy into a painting. I generally don't prefer stoic and still. If I'm painting a galaxy, I want that galaxy to appear to be spinning its course and constellations to be orbiting. When I'm painting flowers, I want those flowers to look like they are blowing in a breeze, opening up to bloom, or reaching up towards the sun. 

For me, painting is the process of resolving issues, an expression of what I'm feeling in the moment. Emotions want to move through and out of your body; if you're sad, they are released through tears, if you are happy, they are released through humming, dancing, and laughing, and if you are agitated, you want to stomp your feet. My emotions run through my body and out of my hands and onto the canvas. It is often a sort of wrestling with God over different matters, but in the end, I am subdued and yield myself over to a place of trust and rest in Him, and ultimately peace. Beauty and joy are always birthed out of struggle, and it is no different when I create art. My work is often described as "happy," and I am glad that is the end result both visually and internally.