Crystina was born and raised in Boston, Massachusetts, becoming a Florida native in her teenage years. She attended the University of Central Florida, receiving her B.A. in Art Education, and received her M.A. in Art Education from the University of Florida shortly after. Crystina began her career as an art educator, teaching high school visual arts for 4 years in Lee and Pinellas County, and finishing off her 5th year as an elementary visual arts teacher in Pinellas County. She began The Messy Painter after realizing that she could do more for art education outside of the classroom. She started her business in 2015, beginning with teaching youth and adult drawing and creativity workshops in Fort Myers, Florida. This journey of entrepreneurship and artistic exploration led to her discovery of watercolor and calligraphy. After many requests from friends and family, she began learning about and designing stationery, creating her own collections of paintings and illustrations, and dipping her toes into the world of textile and pattern design. She has been a practicing and professional artist for almost a decade now, and has extended expertise in art education, watercolor and gouache painting, ink illustration and drawing, as well as utilizing those elements to create one-of-a-kind digital designs.