Mark Making a solo show

“ You don’t know how precious vulnerability is until you release it with confidence!”

I wanted to elaborate on the night that will have my heart forever. I would catapult myself onto a stage. That stage would offer up my expressions in the form of writing and painting and guess what? It was magical! All the love and support I felt was humbling and fuel to keep creating in an honest way! You don’t know how precious vulnerability is until you release it with confidence! I did just that. About six months back, I found a roll of canvas leaned up in my basement. I quickly grabbed it and felt compelled to use its remains in pursuit of making something new. Something uncharted and unfamiliar. I had no preconceived vision. I grabbed oil pastels and poured paints onto my pallet. With each rich pigment, I became aware that this was a journey I was meant to take. My paintings were mirroring life as I knew it. One by one a story organically would unfold, it had to be a divine appointment! I was like a surrendered paintress with a voracious appetite to stay creating this theme of…me. The second layer of my show would be articulated through words which I’ll share in a moment! Tending to each painting felt freeing, I realized I wasn’t thinking while in the throws of laying paint and vigorously coloring withal pastels. I was using primal raw inspiration and doing it the only way I only knew how. My technique would be my soul. Each oil pastel was a translator to express direct emotion — no time for the traditional way with solvents and dawdling. I had a message to relay, and I needed it to be done in one gesture while I was emotionally engaged and attentive to what this painting was showing me. I would custom mix acrylic paint to perfect my mind's color wheel. I would use different utensils, and in all this, I was introducing myself to an uncharted territory that I felt compelled to ensue. After I felt emptied of making all this new artwork I decided I wanted to share them! I thought on a name that would encompass the paintings and I call it Mark Making!

“Each time your brush hits the canvas or your pencil makes a line; you are making a mark. It is a fundamental element in making any art, and it is how we begin to express emotion, movement, and other concepts we wish to convey in an artwork. That is Mark Making.”

-Marion Boddy-Evans 

There are a beginning and completion to everything, we aren’t always present for both, but proof of the process is evident in art, life, and creation! This body of work indeed chose me; I did not select it. I found myself being led to create each painting in an orderly, organically,  and a predestined timeframe. Serendipities and spiritual breakthroughs have poured into each picture. Surges of inspiration, experiencing life and its board game qualities. Speed bumps, puddles, reap, gather, move ahead three spaces but wait your turn. Great days are torn with anxious waiting rooms of life, then erased with stillness in quiet meditation.

I am in a classroom learning much. I am at times breathing calmly, mind at ease, letting the gentle current of God’s plan lead me. Other times a filter of turbulent waters and uneasy fallacies can exhaust me. But God is always there. Renewer, intentional, and steadfast.  I am still creating new things. Beautiful things. He gives strength. He makes a way. I am new, and my branches are stronger as I dismantle deadwood — my paint strokes bolder my mind a landscape that sees prosperity and growth. Vibrant erratic colors blanket the base of my canvas, could it be that seed is in the soil? I invite you. Why hide? All of us are here with the same experiences. When we know that, the sun appears. It warms the back, and we don’t feel alone. On paper or canvas and in life, we are all mark makers. 

The mystery isn’t so mysterious when it’s a relatable experience. -Rachel

Special Thanks to Stacy K and Ally for making this experience feel effortless, Frameworks for the gorgeouse framing as usual! Cordell my other half for supporting me in everything I do and being my safe haven, Amelia for baking her delightful macarons, Each of my special friends and family members for always backing me with sincere delight! And lastly to all who came out to hear my voice translated on canvas and in word!

Rachel’s solo exhibition was at the Courtyard in the Factory between Stacy K Floral and Nosh Restaurant! Russell Street Rochester NY