Today we’d like to introduce you to Rachel Loftis.
Every artist has a unique story. Can you briefly walk us through yours?
I grew up drawing all the time, winning random drawing contests through church and my elementary school. I loved art and was naturally passionate about it. I was obsessed with paper and made paper dolls from scratch, building them houses out of cardboard and illustrating their lives. However, I never considered art a ‘career’ possibility. I always just did it as a hobby. In college I majored in Business Administration with a concentration in entrepreneurship because I knew I wanted to be able to run a business out of my home in the future. I did take a couple art classes in college (I went to NC State University) but it still wasn’t in the career plan. I got out of college and starting working at a printing company as part of a leadership program.
Being around all the beautiful graphic design pieces we were producing excited me and I ended up teaching myself how to design with Adobe Illustrator while working there. After I started learning design, projects started coming my way from paying clients and I fell into freelance work while working a full-time job. I started getting creatively frustrated with corporate jobs and craved being my own boss. Having the business degree background, I knew I could start a graphic design business and be my own boss that way.
I partnered with another creative friend to start a freelance graphic design business that we ran together for about a year and a half. After working in corporate jobs for 3.5 years out of college, I decided to quit and do the freelance thing full time. With all that time I had to invest in actually creating a business, I also taught myself how to paint watercolor and hand letter, since I wanted to be able to do both for my own designs instead of buying art from other illustrators. I completely fell in love with watercolor and working away from a computer screen so I pivoted towards fine art/watercolor illustration as my full-time art business instead of graphic design. I officially launched Rachel Loftis Art in February 2016 and have been painting now for two full years. I’m completely obsessed with what I do.
Please tell us about your art.
I am a self-taught watercolor painter + illustrator. I paint mostly small to medium-size works on paper. My landscapes and illustrations can best be described as ‘contemporary fantasy’ with one foot in our reality and one foot in another one. My pieces are believable but definitely not real, like a lot of our dreams.
I believe that my natural curiosity has led me to making art. I paint to help myself and others see beautiful things more clearly and imagine realities just a small step away from our own.
For now, watercolor is my chosen medium because I am completely obsessed with the subtle textures and marks that the water mixed with paint create. I never loved creating so much as I do now that I use watercolor to create my work. The unpredictable nature of watercolor is such an adventure; I just love how I never know exactly how something will turn out. Every time I sit down to paint, I feel like I’m transported somewhere where life is just a bit more vibrant and fantastical. Painting has definitely become a type of meditation for me. I get in that flow state and could stay there forever. I suppose I’m a bit addicted to it.
My hope for the work I make is that it would give people at least a moment to breathe and to imagine before diving back into the chaos of life.
Given everything that is going on in the world today, do you think the role of artists has changed? How do local, national or international events and issues affect your art?
I think over history the role of the artist has always been to draw attention to the issues of their day, hoping to enlighten the ignorant or even just open the mind of people who ignore what’s going on around them. To be honest about what they see and true to expressing their own personal struggles and inspirations within a culture.
I don’t think that has changed.
Some people believe that making art has no purpose unless it has something to say. I disagree completely. I think making art for the sake of making art is a natural creative instinct that we all have inside us, innate to us as human beings made in God’s image. And it is always good to create. If you can use creating art as a way of expressing opinions or beliefs that are helpful to others, that’s an amazing bonus.
I personally have never been overly interested in politics or big world events. But, especially with all the racially-charged issues, like police brutality coming to the forefront of the conversation here in America, I’ve been a lot more intentional with how my ‘white privilege’ affects what I’m creating. Like who are the artists I’m following on Instagram and am being inspired by? Are they all white? Or do I have a good multi-ethnic mix of inspiring people I’m actively following and supporting. I don’t paint portraits of people right now but when I start, I don’t want to only paint people who look like me. I’m much more interested in representing the amazing diversity we have in this country in the skin tones and features that I learn to paint. Also, since I am in the majority as a white person in this country, I want to be intentional with propping up creatives that are part of different minority groups that may not have as much natural access as I do because of my skin color.
I can’t say that my actual artwork has been affected by paying attention to the oppressed in this country; it’s been more of a personal change that may eventually directly impact what I’m creating in the future. I am excited to see how having a more diverse group of inspiring artists in my Instagram feed will affect my work.
How or where can people see your work? How can people support your work?
I post new pieces on Instagram almost every day, showing progress pieces or finished paintings. I also have an Etsy shop where I sell originals, prints and cards. Currently in the middle of creating a website and a YouTube channel to share even more behind the scenes of my studio.
Instagram: @rachelloftis
Etsy shop: etsy.com/shop/RachelLoftisArt
I also sell my work in local markets near where I live in Raleigh, NC.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.etsy.com/shop/RachelLoftisArt
- Email: rachel.loftis01@gmail.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rachelloftis/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/rachelloftisart/
Image Credit:
Mara Masters
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