RACHEL ROMANO

USA b. 


My Art Life

"Paint Pusher by Day and Night...Enjoy the Journey!"

I am figurative storyteller.  My connection to art begin at age 7 with sojourns to the Metropolitan Museum of Art with my father, a poet, which planted the seeds of storytelling.

 

After many years and a diverse career in advertising and landscape design, I made the leap to attend workshops with Tim Hawkesworth to connect with my art vision. Thinking I was visual storyteller for children, I discovered I am a storyteller for adults.

 

My paintings have a Shakespearean quality with some darkness and whimsy, full of symbolism and allegory. I find inspiration in personal myth, and the stories of others. The laughter, love, and sorrow of our lives fills my creative well. It is this connection to one's heart that helps me bring out the richness of story in my work. It is important for me to explore my deeper self, to discover how we find strength through change and adversity. Often I am asked to explain the imagery and stories behind them. Everything has a meaning, I can explain the meanings, but I’d rather the viewer give the language and find the narrative.

 

My paintings and drawings are expressed in a more traditional style, but their meanings are relevant to our contemporary world. The process begins with a very rough drawing/scribble in my sketchbook; which I then will translate to a large canvas. Working in oils is perfect for me and “my thinking as I am doing process”; allowing me to wipe out, or radically change an image. If a painting is not working I will even cut it apart. It is important to be fearless. I work on several paintings at a time, to give them breathing room, and not to become too precious, creating fluidity in the process. Consequently my paintings will go through many iterations before they are complete.

 

It is hope that when people view my paintings, they are taken "somewhere else" within the story.

 

My works are collected here in the US and internationally.

 

I have been awarded residencies in Europe, where I paint each year (COVID willing). Otherwise, you can find me in my studio in Coatesville PA.  I am always open for studio visits!

 

Group Exhibitions: Gallerie Lorien

Make Life Magic 2022

8 Year Birthday 2022