Featured Artist in Coastal Lifestyle Magazine
Grab an iced coffee or something stronger: The Coastal Palms Art collection, featuring palm tree art and more, is in Coastal Lifestyle magazine! Needless to say, this is personally thrilling. It’s also a real testament to the collaborative spirit of the Coastal Lifestyle team, who make room for emerging artists within their glamorous pages.
The article is a four-page spread in the magazine’s Aug/Sep 2025 issue, that edition’s “Featured Artist” profile. In those glossy pages, you’ll find images from the Coastal Palms Art collection — bright palmettos, tropical waters and abstract botanicals. You’ll also find the origin story behind the series, which draws inspiration from palm tree art elements.
If you can get your hands on a print copy, it’s a joy to hold in your hands. But if not, you can read the online version here.
“For so many people, the coastal lifestyle is all about soaking in what’s good,” says Benys. “It’s about being ready and willing to stop whatever you’re doing to simply appreciate the beauty around you.”
—Coastal Lifestyle magazine, Aug/Sep 2025
In that interview, I loved the chance to brag about the life-changing generosity of our friends — Cat, Will and 5-year-old Maddie — who invited my husband and me onto their sailboat last spring. And of course, I loved getting to talk about the creative inspiration that grew over those weeks in the Exumas, which led to creating palm tree-focused art pieces. My eyes and brain found ways to look more closely at the details around me.
“After about a week, another kind of inspiration kicked in. On hikes, I started slowing down to really look at the layers and layers of plants around me, seeing details I’d been missing.”
I think you can see that “slowing down” influence throughout the entire collection. This includes a black-and-white series of coastal art prints, which play with the sculptural elegance of humble palmettos.
Palm trees to abstract botanicals: Coastal art with an upscale tropical aesthetic
From that trip — along with about a million friendship bracelets from sweet Maddie — I took home a newfound infatuation with the geometry of nature. The classic palm tree silhouette of Palm Trees No. 2 led to the minimalist lines of B&W Palmetto No. 13. It became an exploration of the hidden shapes and textures of the tropics, reflecting my fascination with palm tree art.
As I explained to Coastal Lifestyle: “The goal is timeless elegance, clean lines and compositions… you should feel a moment of bliss, of beauty, that sigh of relief from simply being by the ocean.”
That’s what forms the foundation of the Coastal Palms Art collection. I’m grateful that Coastal Lifestyle is helping to share it with the world.
