“A Day in the Life” with: Toronto Visual Artist Alana Kinsey

Alana Kinsey grew up surrounded by art, spending most of her time in her mother’s art studio. From a young age, she was encouraged to create and be fearless with her artistic expression. A naturally quiet child, Alana was always observing her environment and absorbing the world around her.

As an emerging artist, Alana expresses her delightful and quirky personality through her art, whether it be painting in acrylics, watercolours, ink, or markers. She focuses on creating tiny art that captures the beauty of ordinary moments—like beautiful table settings, vanities full of lipsticks and perfumes, and mornings at a café—all with a romantic feel.

Alana continues to grow as an artist, constantly challenging herself. Currently, she is taking some of her tiny art subject matter, originally done in marker, and translating it onto large canvases. This year has been particularly exciting for her; she participated in her first group exhibition, “Girl Dinner,” at the Abozzo Gallery at 401 Richmond in Toronto. She has also been accepted as an artist in residence at Château d’Orquevaux in Champagne, France, in May 2025. It will be exciting to see what she creates during her residency.

Alana Kinsey
I wake up and spend at least half an hour drawing in my kitchen-turned-studio.
Alana Kinsey
This is my setup at my kitchen table, the morning sunlight is so sweet!
Beside my studio setup is my conveniently placed coffee station which I frequent throughout the day. I surround my space my pieces of art that I love.
When I need some fresh air I’ll walk to a local cafe to pick up a coffee (one of many throughout my day) and I’ll be sure to snap a few pictures while I’m there, as a ton of my subject matter comes from moments I love, ie, cafes and coffee runs.
I love trying out new restaurants and getting dinner with my girlfriends, those little moments I make sure to include frequently. I also pull inspiration from these special moments and love capturing them and cementing them in my art.
In the evening I’ll work on more art, using reference pictures from the day to include in my current projects, such as the cocktails from dinner being included in this 24”x36” acrylic painting I was working on.
Alana Kinsey
I finish up in the studio with commissions, in this picture you see three out of nine pieces that were commissioned from me for a client in Winnipeg for a gallery wall in her kitchen.
Alana Kinsey
I always wind down with a good book at the end of each day, and once a month I host a book club which will almost always end up being the subject of one of my drawings or paintings.

***

Which neighbourhood are you in?

I currently live in Windsor, in the Walkerville neighbourhood, but I frequently visit Toronto and spend most of my time in the Queen West area.

What do you do?

I’m a visual artist who creates mostly “tiny art” which are small 2”x3” drawings that I create with water-based markers. My subject matter is mostly snippets of everyday life and things I find beauty in, like dinners with friends or martinis with my girlfriends. I recently started to delve into the bigger pieces using acrylic paint, I’ve always wanted to work on larger-scale projects and this is something I’m very excited about experimenting with.

What are you currently working on?

I’m currently working on a project for my upcoming show in Montreal at La Maison Bref, hosted by Petit Magazine. I will be showing 3 large-scale paintings, portraying the stages of a night out, as well as a collection of 20 pieces of tiny art portraying little moments in my and my friends’ lives that I feel are beautiful in their own little ways.

Where can we find your work?

My work can currently be found online through my website, as well as through Abbozzo Gallery where they currently have a selection of pieces from my previous group exhibition with them, ‘Girl Dinner’. I am also in stores at November’s Eve in Windsor, ON and Trouve Home Interiors in Victoria, BC. You can also see my work at the upcoming ‘Bonnes Choses’ exhibit from November 28-December 8th at Galerie Bref, in Montreal.

 

About Emilea Semancik 158 Articles
Emilea Semancik was born in North Vancouver. Emilea has always always wanted to freelance her own pieces and currently writes for the Vancouver Guardian. She is also a recipe author working towards publishing her own series of recipe books. You can find her recipes on Instagram. @ancestral.foods