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Rachel Houseman
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Biography
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Rachel Houseman is a Colorist painter. She works in the style of plein air and finds the beauty of nature a never ending well-source for her inspiration. Rachel grew up on the shores of Lake Michigan near some of the largest sand dunes in the world. Her interest in landscapes of the desert started during a trip the Southwest in 2004. Since that time she has discovered her own unique expression in the artwork that she does interpreting the beauty and tenacity of desert. She seeks to create compelling and emotional images of desert dwelling plants, brilliant skies and sunsets as well as the endless space of the far reaching horizons of the Southwest. Rachel has a BA in Fine Art and is graduate of Goddard College where she also studied art and healing, psychology, world religions, art materials & process, ecopsychology, graphics, stained glass, glass blowing, painting, drawing, writing and ritual. Rachel also studied Renaissance Art for a semester overseas at Richmond College in Florence, Italy. Later she went on the manage the Blinking Light Gallery in Plainfield, VT. In 2004 Rachel moved to Prescott, AZ to start her Masters Degree in Expressive Arts Therapies and opened her art gallery. She graduated in 2007 and is now independently licensed as a counselor, art therapist, and supervisor in 2 states: AZ & NM. During her years of study she continued to make art incessantly, being inspired by color, mysticism the land itself and created over 500 paintings in her time as a student, and now has over 1000 paintings in the series as well as many other series. She opened the Eye on the Mountain Art Gallery in Prescott AZ 2004 and moved the gallery for a short time to Taos, NM before moving it to Santa Fe where it resides today. The gallery has the theme of visionary and sacred art, and of course color!
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Statement
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"I believe in art as a healing practice and believe that is necessary to human survival. Color is one of the most important healing forces in the universe and it speaks to our spiritual intuitive side, it releases us from the mundane, and it awakens us to our true divine nature. The colors in the stark landscape of the desert are what drive me to explore the possibilities in paint. The excitement in the discovery of new and interesting plants and landscapes are essential to the art making process. I always make time to spend hours alone or with others in nature and remember to draw upon my introspective reflections on what has been witnessed when back at the studio. When at all possible I like to paint plein air, meaning on site in the actual location. I will usually do my work in three important phases, scouting, sketching, painting and marketing to galleries. I work fast and free and the sketch is as loose and accurate as the color and painting. Later, after I have left the sun behind, there is a nostalgia for the place. There are many places in the wilderness of the desert that I love to paint, but could not stay in for long. As a result, I long for being there, when actually living there or existing there would be impossible due to the heat and remoteness of the locales. This creates a mysterious tension between knowing and longing creates a beauty on canvas that I hope is as much a joy to behold as it is to paint!"
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Exhibitions
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Art Featured at Eye on the Mountain Gallery, Santa Fe NM (Home of ColorScapes Studio) Ongoing
Art Featured at Gallery Andrea, Scottsdale AZ Ongoing
Art Featured at Hive Gallery, Los Angeles, CA 2013
Art Featured at Metallo Gallery, Madrid, NM Ongoing
Art Featured at Range Cafe, Bernillio, NM Ongoing
Art Featured at Hilltop Deli, Jerome AZ Ongoing
Art Featured at Eklecticafe, Moab UT Ongoing
Art Featured at Cornell Winery, Cornell CA 2016
Art Featured at Abiquiu Inn, Abiquiu NM Ongoing
Art Featured at Taos Diner I & II, Taos NM Ongoing
Art Featured at Peacetree Juice Cafe, Monticello UT Ongoing
Art Featured at Burr Trail Outpost Boulder, UT Ongoing
Art Featured at Athena's Heart Gallery, Prescott AZ Ongoing
Art Featured at Flatiron Cafe, Jerome AZ Ongoing
Featured at Beverly Hills Affaire in the Gardens Juried Art Show
Featured at Arizona Fine Art Expo Juried Art Show in Cave Creek AZ
Featured at Mission Federal Artwalk Juried Art Show in San Diego, CA
Featured at Fountain Hills Great Fair Juried Art Show in Fountain Hills, AZ
Featured at La Jolla Festival of the Arts Juried Art Show in La Jolla, CA
Featured at Thumb Butte Festival Juried Art Show in Prescott, AZ
Featured at ASU Library Solo Art Show at ASU Campus, Mesa AZ
Featured at Fountain Hills Great Fair Juried Art Show in Fountain Hills, AZ
Featured at Santa Fe Railyard Juried Art Show in Santa Fe, NM
Featured at First Fridays Artwalk Phoenix 2011-2013
Featured at Second Fridays Artwalk Mesa 2011-13
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