Meet the Artist
My name is Rachael and I currently am enjoying creating calming and nostalgic scenes of fields, moody trees and rolling hills with my oil paints. Throughout my whole life, when I day dream, I dream of these fields, of these expansive spaces nestled within the safety of towering trees - where I can run, be free, take up space and feel the soft grasses and heat of the sun on my face. To me, even these imaginary spaces would shift my mood - when I felt stressed, sadness, grief, rage - these were the places I could go in my mind to find some relief. As a psychotherapist, I also have seen the power of visualizations in allowing clients to dream up their “safe places” and retreat from the intensity of painful memories or current life circumstances. In my soul, I felt knew I needed to one day paint these special places of mine to give them life, to share them so that they could hopefully bring peace and comfort to others. It has been years in the making, of dreaming these spaces, and bringing them into existence, and I feel so thankful I can finally share them with others.
These scenes also take snippets of the unceded territory of the Cowichan Tribes (Qu’wutsun) and Malahat First Nation (Málexeł)(the Cowichan Valley), the place where I am truly thankful and honoured to now call home. When I first came to visit this area, I was astonished at how the retreats I created in my mind became real places and I knew that this area was home.
My hope is that you can find yourself lost in the images, to dream of your own retreats when life feels too painful, stressful or chaotic. To visit them when needed. I hope these paintings offer you a gentle escape into the beauty of nature.
Meet The Gardener
Taking care of plants is in my blood. Coming from a long line of orchardists from the Okanagan, I feel home surrounded by trees and plants. Some of my favourite childhood memories are helping my dad plant in his vegetable garden, picking fresh peaches from our trees, 'and running through my aunt and uncle’s orchards with my cousins. Since I’ve had a place of my own, from a small basement rental suite, to where we have landed now, one of my first priorities is dreaming up the garden.
As the years go by, and the area I garden has expanded, my hope is to grow and preserve enough veggies to last my little family, my partner and two boys, most of the year. Thankfully, living in zone 8a, I am able to grow at least some things pretty much all year round! Follow along as I keep learning from what the Earth provides for us.