Hi, I'm Mckinley
I’m an artist, designer, illustrator, and the gal behind Lucky Bat Paper Co. - a small Baltimore-based business that creates colorful watercolor art prints, greeting cards, and other fun paper goods & gift items. My love of nature, gardening, and cooking is often what inspires me.
I grew up in a family of artists and have been painting and drawing for as long as I can remember. Both of my parents were professional, working artist. My dad created fun, light hearted, illustrations that always made people smile and crack a laugh. Even as a small kid I loved seeing how happy people were as they looked through his art. That’s when I learned how magical and wonderful art can be. And I knew I wanted to create art that was bright, happy, and made people smile.
I was born and raised in Nashville, Tennessee but fell in love with Baltimore, Maryland when I moved here in 2013. Lucky Bat officially started in January 2019 and it’s been a total dream job. One of my favorite things is setting up at the Baltimore Farmer’s Market. It’s always a treat to hear about how someone is enjoying the art they bought the week before, or how their mom loved the card they picked out for her. Plus, the farmer’s market is the PERFECT spot to meet other people obsessed with food, cooking, gardening, and art. I’ve met chefs, nutritionists, farmers (duh), and so many other cool artist. I once talked with a woman for half an hour about compost – where else can you do that?
One question I’m asked pretty frequently is “Why the name Lucky Bat?”. Well… I like bats. They’re a very special animal that tends to get a bad rap. While a lot of people are obsessed with unicorns and cute whales, I’m into to bats. Did you know, bats can eat up to 1,200 mosquitos PER HOUR and often consume their body weight in insects every night (I kinda feel like they should get their own holiday for that).
When I’m not working on Lucky Bat related things I can usually be found hanging out in my backyard with our sassy (and very spoiled) chickens, digging in my garden, or planning the next hiking/biking/camping adventure with my husband.