We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Rachel Means. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Rachel below.
Hi Rachel , thanks for joining us today. Can you talk to us about how you learned to do what you do?
Along with natural creative abilities, I attended numerous classes to refine my skills and learn new skills/terminology. Observing fellow artists, reflecting on my process, and creating work helps as well. My creativity was also encouraged which helped me delve deeper into observing, reflecting, and creating.
Maybe worrying less about the end product and remaining in the process longer could have affected the pace of my learning but I think slowing down is significant. And my pacing contributed to my learning process.
I’m not sure what skills were most essential. I enjoy experimenting and my work incorporates aspects of so much of what I’ve learned, intentionally and unintentionally.
I’m a recovering perfectionist and that tendency towards perfectionism was a hindrance. I’m constantly learning but perhaps I would have approached my work with less fear and hesitation.
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your background and context?
I am a mixed media visual artist. Through drawing, painting, sculpture, and installation, I explore nuance and subtle gestures while leaving behind traces of my touch. My process involves tactility, abstraction, and material experimentation. By remaining attentive to my process, I capture intersections between the relational and the internal. I also incorporate influences from scripture and nature.
It took me a while to embrace myself as an artist but once I did, I prioritized my artistic journey.
Currently, I’m selling paintings, ink drawings, and fine art prints. I recently created a commissioned painting for the cover of a book – Buy Black: How Black Women Transformed US Pop Culture by Aria S. Halliday. I also welcome opportunities to create installations, spaces to explore and be surrounded by various materials.
I intend to share my creativity and I enjoy sharing with people who appreciate creativity. There is space for art and I invite a deeper sense of attentiveness.
Through Stillness, What Lies Beneath, I share my creativity. This virtual art exhibition experience offers a depth that speaks to longing, beauty, vulnerability, and connection.
I am grateful for those who are present and supportive.
Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can provide some insight – you never know who might benefit from the enlightenment.
My creativity comes in waves. While I do employ self-discipline and pray for creative focus, there’s a natural rhythm and a slower pace that guides me. People usually wonder about what I’m creating now and beyond sketching, sometimes there is nothing else. And that is ok, especially because so much informs my creative process. For example, spending time in a field of flowers or reading a book of poetry feeds my creativity.
I had to learn to appreciate this rhythm in order to create more freely and intuitively. And welcome those seemingly unrelated opportunities as intricately informative to myself and my practice.
We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.
Creating Stillness, What Lies Beneath illustrates my resilience. This virtual experience was released in September 2020 but began mid-summer. It involved numerous moving parts. I created new work including a poem, collaborated with other artists, secured a venue, hosted an in-person pop-up exhibition of the work, and more. There was miscommunication, doubt, and frustration, along with passion and joy.
The pain, confusion, and fear brought about by the pandemic was palpable. To accomplish such a project in the midst of tragedy was an incredibly stretching creative endeavor.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.rachelsreflections2014.com
- Instagram: @rachelsreflections
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rachel-l-means-mfa-6985751a7
- Youtube: Stillness, What Lies Beneath – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EbEDaCno-kE