Coastal Artwork From Places I Keep Going Back To In My Mind

I'm not a decor person. I just create coastal canvas pictures of shorelines I like to look at — and like to look back on.

If you've stood on a beach at the end of the day and felt utterly relaxed while you suck in a deep breath, these are for you. I aim to create imagery that helps your feet remember the wet sand and your ears remember the waves. Coastal canvas pieces from real shorelines. Key West. Cancun. Maine. Hawaii. Sanibel.

Sizes from 8x10 to 32x48, gallery-wrapped so the image extends over the edges, adding depth and interest. 

Hang the one you love where you want to see it. That's the only rule.

 

Coastal Artwork From Places I Keep Going Back To In My Mind

How to pick one

The right one is the one you keep looking at - at least five times a day. Whether it's beach wall art for the kitchen or canvas art for above your bed, that's still the rule.

A few people have asked me how to choose. That's the only thing I'll say.

Not the one that "matches your couch." Not the trendy new thing. Not the one that's the right size by some rule a designer made up.

…The one that hooks your eye every time.

If you're stuck between two

Look at them tomorrow morning. One of them will call you a little louder. That's yours.

Put it where you'll actually see it

Pick the wall you face when you're drinking coffee. The one across from your bed. The one at the end of the hallway you walk down every morning.

Not the formal dining room you only use at Thanksgiving. Not the guest room. The piece you love deserves a spot where you are, not where company is.

If you want to hang a 30x40 in a small bathroom because that's where you'll see it every morning while you brush your teeth - do that. There's no rule here. Put the size you love where you want to see it.

If it doesn't feel right when it arrives

Send it back. Simply return it within 30 days. The piece on your wall should be one you actually want to look at.

What’s in this collection

Some of these came from beaches I've stood on. Some came from photos I've studied so long they feel like I have. Both are honest.

I make coastal canvas pictures of real shorelines - the ones I've walked and the ones I haven't gotten to yet. Some are wide horizon pieces. Some are close-up. The point isn't whether I was there. The point is whether the coastal artwork gives YOU back the feeling of being there. That's what original artwork on canvas is supposed to do.

Here's where each one came from.

Key West Blooms

Walking around the town. White picket fences. Bougainvillea spilling over everything. Conch fritters and slow afternoons. Key West has a particular kind of laid-back you can't get anywhere else - the kind where you stop checking your phone because there's nothing on it more interesting than what's in front of you. The canvas is what it felt like to walk down a residential side street there with the flowers vivid and the air salty.

Maine Cliffs

Two trips' worth. Camden, with its harbor and hills and the kind of sea kayaking where you forget you're working out. And Acadia - Sand Beach, the trails, the mountains in the morning and be at the water by afternoon. The light in Maine in late summer is something specific. Cooler than tropical light. More dramatic. The lighthouse in this canvas isn't a specific one - it's a compilation of cliffs, ocean, and the waves hitting rock the way they do up there.

The Chatham Belle

A week in Chatham one summer. Walking everywhere. Quahog at lunch. Sailing out on the Cape's quieter waters. The Chatham Belle isn't a real boat - I don’t remember the name of the boat I sailed on so I picked a name that felt right. Quaint and sturdy. I often use bright accents and the orange sail is it. Satisfying warm color against the blue-grey water.

Cancun Afternoon

I haven't been to Cancun yet. I've stared at enough photos of the water there - the turquoise we all love on a canvas. A rhyming name, a lot of blue that lets you feel the shallow water slowly get deeper. The blues in this one feel to me like butter pecan ice cream tastes. Delicious and satisfying. My favorite of the seven.

Hawaiian Sunset

I haven't been to Hawaii yet. But I've stared at one photo enough times that it might as well be a memory — the sun already down behind the water, and the clouds still lit from underneath in a pink that pushes toward purple. The kind of color you don't get on the mainland. That's this canvas.

Sanibel Blues

Honestly, I started this one because I love the word Sanibel. What a great word. Soft on the tongue. And the Sanibel customers I've talked to all describe the same thing - the morning shell walks, the blue water and how much they love the place. Calmer than the Caribbean and warmer than the Atlantic. I made this beach canvas for them. Truly, it’s for anyone who loves blue ocean water.

Seven Mile Beach

Seven Mile Beach is on my bucket list. I love that it's called seven-mile. It’s a beach in Grand Cayman and it’s only a little over 6 miles long. I love that it's described the same way every time - long, shallow, turquoise, sand that goes on. I made this ocean canvas because I eventually want to go… And for customers who have already been and want something on the wall to remind them that the water really was that color.

Three of these came from being there. Four came from wanting to be. All seven are real shorelines, made for the spot in your house where you go when you need that feeling.

Hang the one you love

That's all seven.

Take a look. The one your eye keeps going back to - that's yours.

Pick the size you want. Hang it where you'll actually see it - across from where you drink your coffee, at the end of the hallway, on the bathroom wall if that's where you pass it every morning. Coastal wall art doesn't have to live in the formal room. The piece you love deserves a wall in the part of your coastal home where you actually are.

If it shows up and it isn't right, send it back within 30 days.

A coastal canvas isn't just a thing you're buying. You're getting a trigger for the feeling of a few seconds on warm sand and in cool surf. The whoosh of the water. Golden sunset light. The feeling your body knows from your last time at the beach. That's what coastal artwork on your wall actually does.