K irsten Sadlier and her husband, Christian, were living in Newport Beach, California a few years ago when they decided to look for a new place to settle with their kids. They wanted to raise their young sons, Grant and Pierce, in a place where they could fully embrace a healthy, active, outdoor-centric lifestyle. They found exactly what they were looking for in Jupiter.
“Christian and I were looking for a place where we could put down some roots, have the best quality of life, and wake up every day feeling grateful and happy,” says Sadlier. “We had visited [Jupiter] many times and realized it checked all the boxes for us.”
They made the move in May 2023, and Sadlier, a professional artist, got to work setting up her home studio, where she paints the whimsical surfboards she is best known for, among other art pieces. As a young child growing up in the quaint hamlet of Miller Place on the north shore of New York’s Long Island, Sadlier says she first discovered art as a way to deal with her ADHD, which she wasn’t even aware she had at the time. “My childhood was a constant struggle,” she says, recalling that she grappled with excessive restlessness and a low attention span. She discovered she had an innate talent for drawing, an outlet that would provide a lasting and positive effect on her mental well-being. “It was difficult for me to focus and listen in class, but when I sketched and doodled during lessons, it helped me relax and absorb information more easily,” she says.
Sadlier’s parents nurtured her passion for art (her father was in the art world too), and in high school, she shifted her focus to painting. One of her early works back then—a still life of designer shoes titled Burberry—won first place at a local young artists’ exhibition, and she went on to compete in a national high school visual arts competition sponsored by the Congressional Institute. Despite the accolades and art scholarships she received, self-doubt about becoming a successful artist led her to pursue a bachelor’s degree in advertising and marketing instead at the Fashion Institute of Technology. After graduating in 2009, she worked in sales for Red Bull and helped Voss raise money for its clean water projects in Sub-Saharan Africa…