Hi everyone! I’m Stephanie Gillen, the creative behind Going Coastal! 

I’m multidisciplinary artist and illustrator, mama of two, avid coffee addict and soul seeker. My work tends to dance back and forth across the line between beautiful and kind of creepy. I have always been fascinated with anatomy and the human body and that drove me to becoming a massage therapist and also fuels a lot of the art I create.

My Work

I have been practicing art my entire life, always doodling on anything I could get my hands on. My adult life has been very much the same, except now I carry a sketchbook in my purse! I find inspiration in the evolving styles of tattooing, the zentangle community, low brow and pop surrealism. I started in black and white line work and have now expanded into digital work and colour… and Oh the colour!! Colouring would have to be my favourite part of the process as it can control the whole mood of the piece. That moment when mixing paint right before it all comes together… when it’s still marbled and then like magic becomes something else entirely, that moment is something I live for!!