I’m Karissa (aka Made by Toast ), an artist with a desire to make much of ordinary life.

Like all artists, my love for drawing and painting started as a child. However, unlike many young artists, I wasn’t interested in making up my own animals or drawing fairy princesses. My very first sketchbook was a spiral notebook with Winnie the Pooh on it and inside, I used my Crayola markers to draw pictures of the backyard. Since the beginning, I’ve always been more interested in the ordinary, everyday life we all live than anything wonderful or fantastical.

Later in high school, when kids my age were reading the Hunger Games and obsessing over Doctor Who, I was fixated on learning how to draw as realistically as possible. I wanted to capture the world exactly as I saw it. I believed the world around me was the most valuable thing I could immortalize in my art.

As my perspective and technical ability has grown and changed, the heart behind my work has not. Though I’m no longer concerned with creating work that is as realistic as a photograph, I still seek to highlight ordinary beauty in every piece that I paint.

There is so much wonder in the world around us. Though everything I create is grounded in my background in realism, using realistic color palettes and natural perspective, my style today infuses that realism with a touch of wonder.

My work is curious and playful, with undertones of peaceful simplicity. All my pieces start with inspiration from the real world before I take them in a whimsical direction illustrating raccoons that do laundry and bears that host dinner parties.

When I’m not painting, you can find me cooking fun things, making lattes, and hanging out with my husband, Tanner, and Bernedoodle, Corduroy. I love making YouTube videos showing the process and behind-the-scenes of my work, check it out if you’re looking for your next comfort creator!

I assume if you’ve made it this far, you’re at least interested in what I do and I can’t thank you enough for that! Your support means so much and I hope the art I create brings joy into your everyday, reminding you that this life we live isn’t really ordinary at all.