Rachael K Bowles is an abstract landscape artist based in Hillsboro, OR. Her preferred media are Monotype and Oil Paint. Rachael was born in Kailua, HI, on the island of Oahu in 1978. She attended high school at the Academy of the Pacific, where she discovered darkroom photography, sparking a passion that provided a positive and creative outlet during her teenage years. In 1996, she earned the first annual Art Award for her photography. Rachael graduated from Windward Community College in the University of Hawaii School System in 2000 with an AA and studied fine arts. Her professors nominated her for the Artist Guild Award based on her outstanding photography, drawing, and painting work. After relocating to Oregon in 2004, Rachael focused on family life but continued to prioritize her art practice. In 2019, she began taking art classes at the Oregon Society of Artists. She was introduced to monotype printmaking in 2021. This new technique significantly influenced her artistic approach, along with further studies in color theory and painting fundamentals. Rachael arrived where she is today, leading her to create color-driven abstract landscapes that use the natural world to explore emotional terrain.
Unveiling the artist within
Growing up in Hawaii and now residing in the Pacific Northwest, I can draw endless inspiration from the natural environment for my creative process. My art reflects my emotional journey through the landscapes around me, my roots in Hawaii, and through lived experiences. I use the beauty of the natural world to convey a wide range of emotions. I rely on my feelings and the way elements interact and react. Line, color, and shape act as a language, finding their voice from whatever influences my mind. Painting en- plein air allows me to experience the environment in all its raw energy. I am less interested in recording the reality of a place and more interested in how a place feels, offering a unique perspective and interpretation of the world. My work varies from abstract to representational, guided by the influence of color as a means of emotional expression.