Rachel happily migrated from the south to Cumbria in the 1970s to work as an artist and a teacher. Time has moved on and she now focuses fully on her artwork which ranges from drawing, painting and printmaking to artists books, video and animation.
Her subject is the natural world, often focussing on those things that go unnoticed in an environment where there is much clamour for attention. Rachel likes weeds, they have cunning and a will to survive. The places that interest her are often forgotten and ignored and have a sense of long ago.
She lives in the North Pennine Fells and am inspired by the open landscape, the wildness and the traces of the past, reflecting in her work the transience of her surroundings. She uses a range of media, often combining them to create imagery that is both subtle and mysterious. These processes are rarely planned in full and only become complete when they seem so: unique journeys and unknown destinations. Each piece carries its own history.
Equinox, early morning light - acrylic on linen
Falling - acrylic on board
Gathered and tied - pastel
Hedgerow in spring with buff tailed bumble bee - acrylic on board
Shelter - acrylic on calico
Spring greens - pastel
Sunrise solstice - acrylic on linen
working studio shot