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I'm Rachel Wilsey a mixed media visual artist living and working in Seattle, WA. Painting allows me to express my emotions, experiences, and varied passions. I love the connection that putting my art out in the world brings. It has brought me closer with so many people who share a piece of my journey. It’s so great to share my passions and hear the myriad ways people connect with my art.
Especially after the first two years of the covid pandemic, I am very mindful about making sure to fill my own cup, to have creative and spiritual input into my soul so that I have something to give out into the world— to my family, my local community and to my art.
Below are some of my passions, things that fill my cup. All these influences come out in my painting in different ways—some more explicitly than others—but without all this I wouldn’t have anything to paint about. I've written extensively about my inspirations for different series of paintings, check out the About the Series section for those.
I’m an avid flower gardener. I’m a member of the Northwest Perennial Alliance and I’ve turned our small city backyard into a perennial oasis. In the summer months we live outside as much as possible and I’m always playing with colors and textures. I approach plant choice more from the standpoint of a painter or interior decorator than from the view of a botanist or plant collector. During lockdown when everyone else was up to the eyeballs in sourdough starter, I was up to my elbows in dirt— digging in the garden sunup till sundown—letting the children largely fend for themselves.
I’m an open water swimmer/cold dipper. I’m so lucky to live just 5 minutes from the beach, and it calls to me year-round. I swim Fall to Spring in the Puget Sound at Golden Gardens, and summer usually brings us to alpine lakes and rivers.
I spend a lot of time in nature camping with my family. We love to pick a wooded spot by a river or lake and totally unplug. We hike, swim, kayak and paddleboard and spend plenty of time doing nothing at all. This chance for our family to unplug and get back to nature is a vital antidote to busy life in the city. I grew up in a semi-rural area and while I choose to live in the city, I need to get out regularly. We camp from spring to fall, and the colors and textures of our surrounds often make it back into my work.
I love live music and the Jam music scene and community. I bring music into most elements of my everyday life—there’s always something on to reflect or change my mood. The improvisational nature of Jam music, the irreverent fun of the festival scene, and my sheer love for that community inspires much of my painting.
I’m a “Hockey Mom,” both my girls pay Hockey on Seattle Jr. Kraken teams and are aspiring goalies. While I’ve been a hockey fan for years, and my husband and I are Seattle Kraken season ticket holders, my love for the sport is deepened so much by watching the pure joy, camaraderie, and confidence that it brings my girls.
I’ve recently returned to Dance, my first artistic love. I’m in an amazing over 40 dance class which lets me connect with the roots of my training in Limón technique which plays with natural swinging flow of the body through release, recovery, weight and weightlessness. This re-connection to my body is coming through in my painting with more energetic and kinetic strokes and mark making.
I'm Jewish. My spirituality is very personal, but I love the way the Jewish calendar cycle of holidays helps mark the passage of time and seasons (of the world, of our lives). The rituals give regular built in places for personal reflection as well as a consistent focus on social justice.
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