Rachel Thornton

Bentham artist Rachel Thornton took the plunge to become a full-time artist in 2017 and she has never looked back.

Born in Suffolk, but a North Craven resident since she was two years old, Rachel always loved art. She was awarded a first from UCLAN in fine art in 2013 then worked in the family garden equipment business while pursuing her artistic dreams part time.

All this changed when fellow Bentham resident, Michelle Hodgson, of Audioworks and Studio 42, offered Rachel some studio space down the road from where she was working.

Said Rachel: “I decided to go for it. I now do commissions and exhibitions, take part in art trails and hold occasional printmaking workshops. I couldn’t have done all this without the workspace.”

Rachel specialises in wood-based artwork and printing as well as drawings and carvings. Her inspiration is wood, nature, animals and trees, all of which she finds in abundance in the Lakes and Dales.

She works with ambitious and experimental printmaking methods to create unique pieces. Rachel continuously experiments and expands on the methods and materials she uses and this love for experimentation has brought forth her own unique ways of creating. This allows her to develop a unique style and form combining printmaking, painting and wood carving methods to create one off natural artworks.

Prior to the pandemic of 2020, Rachel did not sell via her website but during the first lockdown set up her website shop. “It was good to finally have the chance to dedicate time to documenting my work, photographing both in the home and in the studio and then list it all in one place. I felt I could take control over the way my work is viewed, represented and sold on an online platform. I think it works well as there is also a huge amount of information about me, including projects and past works. This helps to share my story in a coherent way, helping my customer to understand my practice and therefore more likely to invest in my work. It is amazing to be able to sell to anywhere in the in the UK at anytime, and I have sold to customers overseas also.”

 

To see Rachel’s work and buy it, visit her website here.