6 Emerging Coastal Artists to Follow on Bluethumb
Australia’s coastline has long inspired artists, not just through sweeping seascapes, but through the quieter moments found in swimming, shifting light, and time spent by the water. From expressive mark-making to contemporary figurative work, these emerging coastal artists explore the sea as a place of movement, memory, and emotional connection.
Here are six standout Bluethumb artists whose work captures coastal life in fresh, thoughtful ways.
1. TeMoana Smith
Sydney’s beaches, ocean pools, and shimmering blues sit at the heart of TeMoana’s practice. A self-taught artist who began her journey in 2016, TeMoana paints from lived experience, balancing everyday life with an instinctive pull toward the water.
Summers Day at the Icebergs by TeMoana.
Her work reflects the laid-back rhythm of coastal living, often inspired by swimming and time spent immersed in the sea. Soft movement, fluid forms, and layered blues and greens give her paintings a sense of calm while still feeling alive. TeMoana’s art invites viewers to slow down and, as she puts it, dive into the deep end.
Waters Edge and Sunbather in White 5 by TeMoana are available on Bluethumb Art.
2. Tonia Sanft
Tonia Sanft’s work is deeply informed by years of technical exploration across acrylics, oils, watercolour, and mixed media. Drawing inspiration from Australian and French Impressionists, she creates expressive coastal scenes that celebrate light, movement, and texture.
Sun Trapped Cove, original acrylic seascape by Tonia Sanft.
Having lived across Sydney, regional Victoria, and now Melbourne, Tonia’s practice reflects a wide range of landscapes. Her ocean-inspired artworks capture the sea’s shifting moods through visible brushstrokes and palette-knife texture, offering a contemporary take on classic coastal subjects.
Turquoise Tides by Tonia Sanft is available on Bluethumb Art.
3. Rachel Rae
Inspired by travel, walking, and lived experience, Rachel Rae paints coastal landscapes as personal records of moments in time. While living in Spain overlooking the ocean, she committed fully to her painting practice, developing a style that balances movement with reflection.
Northern Beaches artist Rachel Rae.
Working primarily in acrylics, Rachel captures the contrast between nature’s motion and the stillness of the built environment. Her coastal works often feature bold colour and dynamic composition, inviting viewers to connect with both place and memory. Each painting becomes a quiet documentation of how people, landscape, and water coexist.
Seaglass by Rachel Rea is available on Bluethumb Art.
4. Miranda Lloyd
Award-winning artist Miranda Lloyd brings a contemporary edge to coastal art, blending abstract impressionism with bold colour and exaggerated forms. A passionate surfer, Miranda’s connection to the ocean is personal and physical, something that clearly translates into her work.
Miranda Lloyd is pictured alongside her recent commission for Adelaide Airport’s Plaza Premium lounge.
Living in the foothills of South Australia, she draws inspiration from both land and sea, creating paintings that feel energetic, modern, and expansive. Her work has been widely recognised, from major hospital and Adelaide Airport commissions to national publications, yet it retains a sense of immediacy and joy rooted in nature and coastal life.
Coastal Garden by Miranda Lloyd.
5. Eugene Rubuls
Based on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast, Eugene Rubuls brings a contemporary, expressive approach to nature-inspired art, where realism gently dissolves into abstraction. While his practice spans wildlife and landscape, the influence of coastal light, colour, and atmosphere runs through much of his work.
Discover Eugene Rubuls‘ available work on Bluethumb Art, including Pink Corals (pictured).
Eugene’s paintings are driven by a deep respect for nature’s harmony, using vivid colour and spontaneous mark-making to evoke mood rather than strict representation. With a strong understanding of light and colour, his work bridges traditional academic technique with modern abstraction. Widely exhibited internationally, Eugene’s art invites viewers to experience the coast as something felt, layered, energetic, and quietly powerful.
Dive Ink by Eugene Rubuls is available on Bluethumb Art.
6. Suzanne Barrett
Working beside Brisbane’s bayside, Suzanne Barrett creates atmospheric seascapes that move beyond representation. With a background in fine art and visual arts education, her practice is grounded in strong technical foundations but led by intuition and emotion.
On A Quiet Street In The Suburbs by Suzanne Barrett.
Suzanne’s mixed-media works focus on mark-making, layering, and gesture, using rhythm and repetition to explore memory and place. Rather than depicting the coastline literally, her paintings trace the emotional tides of the landscape, capturing how water, sky, and shoreline feel, not just how they look.
The Solace Of Salt Water by Suzanne Barrett.
Can’t get enough coastal art? Explore 10 Seascape Artists Making Waves.
From swimmers and surf breaks to shifting horizons and quiet bays, coastal art holds a powerful place in Australian homes. These emerging artists offer varied interpretations of life by the water, each bringing their own perspective, process, and connection to the coast.
For more coastal inspiration, check out our Coastal Art for the Beach House curation.
