I look to nature often for guidance and grounding, and to find living reminders of hope that can be shared with others. Patterns, colors, and symbiotic relationships within ecosystems heavily influence the imagery and color systems in my work. I see them as evidence of a sacredness that connects us all. 

I start a painting by sketching with thinned acrylic paint onto a toned canvas, building up the form and lighting of each subject with a combination of transparent layering and thick brushstrokes. I edit and react with intuitive mark-making while relying on various reference photos as a guide. My color choices are a mix of natural and dream-inspired palettes. 

Line-work and colors from the initial painted sketch selectively show through in the completed painting, implying constant movement. My aim is to illustrate the life within each subject, and highlight the otherworldly, unseen vibrations of the ephemeral border between them and their surrounding world.

Christina McLachlan (b. 1989) is an acrylic painter living in Bellingham, Washington. She was born in Finland while her mother was serving in Soviet Moscow for the US Foreign Service, and grew up in various countries overseas for most of her childhood. In each new place nature became a common thread and guide to the world around her.

Christina received her BFA in Painting & Printmaking from Virginia Commonwealth University in 2012. She continued to live in Richmond, Virginia for over a decade, and spent her free time exploring the James River with friends, drawing in her sketchbook and becoming immersed in the local art and music scenes. By example of her community in Richmond, she came to know art as a device for hope, guidance, and mutual aid.

Moving to the Pacific NW in 2020, she’s since continued her art practice in her home studio, often creating paintings of figures entranced by the natural world. Christina loves animals and has been happily painting pet portraits since 2019.

McLachlan’s work has exhibited at multiple venues, including Gallery 5, the Lewis Ginter Botanical Gardens, and Studio Two Three, all in Richmond, VA; the 2018 and 2024 Radical Mycology Convergence in Mulino, OR; Dakota Gallery and Makeshift Artspace in Bellingham, WA, Magnuson Park Gallery in Seattle, WA, and The Confluence Gallery in Twisp, WA.

For inquiries & Commissions please contact: c.mclachlan.arts@gmail.com