Landscapes
Rachel Loeffler- Landscapes
Landscape Meditations
daily rituals: poems, photographs, paintings, and video
Land, Landscapes, our connection to land, deepens slowly over time, as we immerse ourselves in the seasons, and bear witness to the changing light and local nuances of place.
We are in constant states of becoming-- rooted in the terrain in which we live. This region has imprinted a sense of wonder and awe for many of us calling this land home. The roll of the terrain and slant of light speak to a belonging which transcends cultures and time spans.
Exploring the region, visual markers of signature terrain can be seen from a distance, identifying locations along the Connecticut river, the Holyoke range, to Mt Sugarloaf, and the Mineral Hills.
At any point during the day on this side of the river or the other side of the river, we can look up to the hills and orient ourselves and our relationship to the landscape, across great distances and varied elevations within the valley.
Rachel finds inspiration in Robin Wall Kimmerer’s book, Braiding Sweetgrass, which calls us into a deeper, reciprocal relationship with the land; as well as David Abram’s theory of ecological perception: our relationship with the landscape transcends language and is experienced much more deeply within our core as a greater connection to dynamic natural systems.
Landscapes are healing, inviting us to be whole and connected, centering us, and helping us reconnect with that still quiet voice of wisdom deep within.
The act of painting is a quiet process which opens up space and time for reflection and understanding-- A way to honor and pay tribute to our relationship with the land and the community in which we live.
Poems arise from daily walks in the woods.
Photographs are borne of moments when the landscape grabs my attention and reveals an pattern, juxtaposition.
Trained as both an architect and a landscape architect, Rachel is a registered landscape architect, practicing landscape architecture locally, as a Principal at Berkshire Design Group in Northampton, MA.
She returned to painting as a daily practice in 2008, after a long hiatus from experiments with oils in middle school, and teaching art and architecture after graduate school. To date, she has painted mostly for friends and family. Posting process images online for friends and family to follow to see how a painting is constructed in layers over time.
With a foundation in fundamentals of art and design, Rachel's explorations as a painter have been self-taught through experimentation. Her work pulls strongly from her design school coursework, which focused on formal structure, composition and use of gesture.
To date, she has painted over a hundred paintings, working slowly in five minute sessions, pulling one or two colors through the canvas, layering them up slowly over time until a piece is complete.
Rachel lives at the foot of the Holyoke Range in South Amherst and paints from her small studio space at home, or in plein air alongside one of our region’s scenic views.
Education
Harvard
Masters of Landscape Architecture
Wash U
BA of Architecture, Minor in Art
Exhibitions
2023
2022
2014
2010
Living Landscapes, Saxton's Showroom, Brattleboro, VT
Living Landscaes, Amhesrt Town Hall, Amherst, MA
Breathing Gratitude, APE, pop up gallery, Northampton, MA
Breathing Gratitude, Cambridge MA
Museum Collections
2000
St. Louis Children's Museum- Bike Sculpture