Kristen Heinlein is a mixed media artist, storyteller, former K-8 art teacher, and mother of 4 living in Mt. Pleasant, SC. Originally from the mountains of West Virginia, Kristen began making things at a very young age- carrying art supplies everywhere she went and constantly writing and illustrating handmade storybooks.

She attended Stetson University on an art scholarship where she studied fine art, art history, and marketing. After graduating, she earned her Master’s degree in teaching from the Savannah College of Art and Design.

Kristen spend more than a decade teaching art in classroom settings spanning kindergarten through eighth grade. Those years became some of her most formative and meaningful experiences, deeply shaping both her creative process and the way she navigates the world. The act of building lesson plans, finding connections between design principles and real life experiences, and helping children translate feelings into visual language continues to influence her work today.

Her work explores themes of motherhood, memory, storytelling, color, connection, and emotional layers hidden within everyday life. She is especially interested in ways creativity can function as both a form of processing and a way of paying closer attention to the world around us.

Kristen has sold work through galleries, markets, art festivals, and online platforms. In recent years, much of her art-making has existed as a personal practice- a way of documenting, processing, experimenting, and staying connected to herself during seasons of transition and family life. As she begins sharing more openly again, she is especially drawn to the sense of connection that art creates between people.