Kristi Jones was named after Howard Chandler Christy, who was a 20th century illustrator and distant relative. Kristi is also the 5th cousin to Clyde Dixon Connell, one of Louisiana's most famous female artists. Kristi developed an innate artistic ability from being raised by artistic parents, both of whom obtained art degrees. Her father has placed (numerous times) in the top tenth percentile in state and federal duck stamp art contests, and her mother sold work at a local gallery. 

Kristi was president of the art club in high school. Later, she studied art at the New Orleans Academy of Fine Arts (NOAFA). She is also self-taught. While in New Orleans, she created mosaics and later designed tropical jewelry which she sold at many Louisiana festivals, including Shreveport's Red River Revel. Recently, she has turned to painting, and has sold work both locally and nationally. She has exhibited at shows and galleries in northwest Caddo Parish, including Centenary College's Meadows Museum of Art and Centenary's Magale Library, Smith Mason Legacies Gallery, and Artspace in downtown Shreveport. In December 2011, Kristi was awarded a visual arts grant from the Shreveport Regional Arts Council (SRAC), and became a Juried Roster Artist in 2012. In 2015, she was commissioned to create 29 paintings for the new University Medical Center in New Orleans.