About

Hi, I’m Kristi Marsh — an oil painter, sea kayaker, and California-raised now-Mainer who has always had one foot in the natural world and the other in the creative one. My art is grounded in the coastal places I love, especially the islands, shorelines, and changing skies of Freeport and Casco Bay.

I started oil painting at twelve and never really stopped creating - one way or another. Over the years, I’ve taken every path I could to keep learning — private lessons, community shows, and later coursework in drawing and oil painting at the Rhode Island School of Design. Before becoming a full-time artist, my life took a turn when I was diagnosed with stage three breast cancer at age thirty-five while raising three young children. That experience reshaped everything. I became a relentless advocate for women’s environmental health, founded a national nonprofit, and wrote the award-winning book Little Changes. That work continues to influence how I see the environment, our choices, and the beauty and fragility of the places we are here to protect.

After moving to Maine, I fell completely in love with the coastline. I took that connection a step further by training to become a Registered Maine Sea Kayak Guide — a process that challenged me, stretched me, and ultimately changed the way I paint. Being out on the water every day, reading tides, weather, wind patterns, and island topography gave me a front-row seat to the details that now show up in my skies, brushwork, and palette through the exhilaration I feel on the water.

Today I paint from my Freeport studio, Blueberry Woods — a solar-powered, high-efficiency space. Sustainability isn’t a buzzword for me; it’s part of how I live and create. My work blends observation, field experience, and a deep love for Maine into oil paintings that celebrate color, atmosphere, and feeling.

In addition to creating new work, I look forward to opening Blueberry Woods for art experiences — a chance for visitors and locals to paint, dabble, and explore the medium I love so much, within a working artist’s studio.

Painting Approach

Oil painting is my calling and the center of my studio practice. I’m drawn to oils for their depth, sensations, and the way they allow me to build atmosphere slowly and intentionally. Working in this medium gives me the ability to create the velvety surfaces, luminous layers, and sense of depth that have become consistent elements in my work.

My approach combines classical oil techniques with a more contemporary, expressive edge. I often shift between brush and palette knife in a single piece, moving from controlled structure to bolder, more intuitive marks. I work in both opaque and transparent passages, letting certain areas develop into defined forms while allowing others to stay open and fluid. This balance creates the visual movement, layered color, and subtle textures that draw viewers in.

I gravitate toward large-format canvases because they allow the landscape—and the paint itself—to breathe. Working big gives me room to build the kind of expansive skies, shifting water, and rooted landforms that reflect my time on the Maine coast as a Registered Sea Kayak Guide. The palette I’ve developed is intentional and creates color choices that evoke joy, calm, or a sense of intrigue.

My paintings now live in homes around the world—collected by Maine vacationers and year-round residents, and displayed throughout the South, Canada, and even China. Ultimately, my goal is to translate experience into presence—creating work that carries the exhilaration, movement, and emotional resonance of living in Maine, while offering a sense of connection wherever the painting finds its home.