OUR InstructorS

Koi Baswick is a visual artist with a focus on making cartoons and digital art. Koi first discovered their interest in art thanks to the cartoons they watched when they were young, and as they got older their fascination for animation only continued to grow. Being able to bring drawings to life seemed like magic, and it felt like a truly limitless medium where any story could be brought to life in ways that would otherwise be impossible. Being from the small town of Port Colborne, there weren’t many opportunities to pursue art outside of their home or school. Koi found community on the internet, as it was a place to view, learn about, and post their own art. They also loved going to Comic-Con and other similar conventions, getting to meet vendors selling their art and other people who were just as passionate about animation as them. Someday Koi hoped to be one of the art vendors selling their art too.

While drawing remained a hobby throughout their younger years, Koi also had a lot of fears about pursuing art as a career. Social pressure and a fear of failure contributed to their decision to move to Hamilton to study engineering at McMaster University. While they wanted to continue to pursue art in their spare time, engineering quickly took over their life and made it difficult to make any time for art at all. By the end of the first year, Koi was starting to have doubts about the direction their life was going. 

It was near the end of Koi’s second year of their studies when Covid hit the world. Everything was put on pause for everyone, and Koi was not exempt. There was a silver lining though, as they saw this as an opportunity to reassess what they wanted to do with their life. Time off of school enabled them to reflect and see that what they really wanted to pursue was art. They were still nervous to make such a drastic change, but when talking with friends and family, everyone could see Koi’s eyes light up. With much love and encouragement from their loved ones, Koi found the courage to make the change. 

Since then, Koi has independently studied and pursued art while working and living in Hamilton and has had the privilege of an array of opportunities, one of which being a position as an art instructor at the Hamilton Conservatory for the Arts, running field trips and summer camp programs with grades 1 – 6. Getting to encourage youth and share experience of learning, having fun, experimenting, and expressing themselves with art has sparked a new passion that only furthers Koi’s drive. They have also sold their art at Hamilton Comic Con and Hamilton Art Crawl, fulfilling the long-time dream they had had since they were young. Currently, they are pursuing a degree in animation at Seneca.