䉱 Rachel Bullock ’84 in front of “Ice Chain 1” 䉳 “Rooftop,” 2002, charcoal and chalk on paper, 60 in. x 76.25 in. 䉴 “Girl and Ginger,” 1996, charcoal, chalk, and acrylic on paper, 74 in. x 46 in.
Though she was always creative, Rachel said she hadn’t intended on becoming an artist. “I’m much more of a mountain girl,” she said. “Maybe a park ranger, or environmental research.” But after moving to New York City, she began “dabbling” in oil painting. She then moved to Norway and began working in the studio of noted Norwegian artist Even Richardson. “I did a lot of work in the corner of his studio,” she said. “It was a good education for me, to be working like that in somebody’s studio.” She eventually got her own studio, and after a couple of years, she returned to the United States. She worked in oils until she developed an allergy to the paints, then moved into acrylics, charcoals and chalks. She said she’s starting to get back into oil painting now that the formulations have evolved. “I’m very much wanting to expand and get into different mediums and materials,” she said. “Charcoal is very physical.” The ideas for her pictures come from inside. Many, such as “Martine in the Snow,” feature female figures floating or swirling in water or snow. Others depict violence, yet even these have the dreamlike quality of a slow-motion event. “I get lots of pictures in my head that
just seem to present themselves,” she said, “sometimes clearly and sometimes not so clearly. I’ll just keep leaning toward certain subject matter.” Snow features prominently in her current collection, perhaps a reflection of her future plans. In June, Rachel and her husband, Jason Brandenberg, will move to Bern, Switzerland.
“A lot of [my art] I understand more in retrospect,” she admitted. “When I look at it a year later, a half a year later, I look at it a lot differently.” Bonnie Blackburn Penhollow ’84 is an award-winning journalist who lives in Fort Wayne, Ind.
Taft Bulletin Spring 2003
33