“I have a drawing in my studio that reads ‘when I grow up I want to be an artist,'” says Rachel Teannalach ’03. Now a successful artist with a degree in fine art from Scripps College, it’s safe to say she’s is all grown up.
Teannalach arrived on campus knowing she’d pursue an education in art. “I’ve always wanted to do this,” she says. So, steeped in an environment rich with its own installations, galleries, and exhibitions, Teannalach took full advantage of the wealth of art classes at both Scripps and neighboring colleges in the Consortium.
Teannalach is particularly fond of Professor Susan Rankaitis, whom she describes as uniquely caring and passionate. “I attribute the importance I place on balancing art with the rest of life something she said to me,” says Teannalach. “‘Spend an hour each day in your studio no matter how busy you are.'” Since graduation, she’s embraced this advice as art became a full-time job and the extras of being an artist threatened to overtake the art itself.
“I think that Rachel is a very important role model for our current and upcoming art majors,” says Rankaitis. “Rachel was painting because she had to paint and she was passionate about it; she has not only survived but she has thrived as an artist and environmentalist on her own terms.”
Now based in Idaho, Teannalach is working to extend the arts in her area with an artist-in-residency program she helped create with the Idaho Conservation League (ICL), and environmental protection group. Working with ICL to create the residency in her home state fulfills a desire to not only promote continued preservation of Idaho’s landscapes but to give back to the state that has inspired much of her artwork. Her ‘tinyExpanse 365‘ series, for example, involved painting one small landscape every day for a full year and concluded just last month.
“The landscapes I painted are in part pristine because someone has cared to protect them,” she says. “Working with these organizations has given me a way of recognizing that as well as giving back both financially and through allowing them to use my images.”
tinyExpanse debuts in a solo show this November under the title “Befriending Time and Place.” Taking the time every day to paint made her slow down and genuinely appreciate the world, and Teannalach is looking forward to having all the pieces displayed together and reflect on the emotions and relationships they inspired over the past year.
She hopes viewers will feel the same sense of awe at the passing of time and learn to find beauty in every day, not just the ‘good’ ones.
“Troubled days are surrounded by paintings of sunflowers and sunrises,” Teannalach says. “Winter slowly melts into green palettes and wildflowers. What a gift each day is, what a gift the passing of time is.”