About Rachael

Rachael's floral abstract paintings explore colour, light, and the joy of being immersed in nature. Working primarily with acrylics, she builds layers of luminous colour, allowing shades and textures to emerge and peek through the surface. The vessels in her paintings are gently textured and layered, creating a sense of depth and history beneath the vibrant blooms.

Flowers are where Rachael allows herself to play. They are expressive, quirky, and often imagined rather than observed, leaving the viewer to wonder exactly what kind of flowers they might be. She paints intuitively, using loose brushstrokes, scratchings, and colour-led decisions to guide each work as it unfolds. Rather than aiming for realism, she seeks to capture a feeling—an emotional response to colour, light, and the natural world.

Her garden is central to her creative process. Rachael spends much of her time moving between the studio and the garden, observing the changing seasons, shifting light, and the endless variety of foliage and flowers. Through her floor-to-ceiling studio windows, she can look back at her paintings while pottering among the plants that inspire them, creating an ongoing conversation between nature and the canvas.

Although Rachael studied Visual Arts more than thirty years ago, much of her creative career was spent working and teaching in ceramics studios. Her passion for flowers and foliage later led her into floristry, where she worked for ten years. A decade ago, she happily returned to painting, bringing together decades of experience with form, texture, colour, and a lifelong love of gardens.

For Rachael, painting is both colour therapy and flower therapy. Her work celebrates nature's abundance, inviting viewers to slow down and experience moments of joy through colour, texture, and imagination.