Watercolour artist, teacher and entrepeneur Rachel MacDonald
Rachel MacDonald at home with one of her favourite paintings.
Note the prominence given to the white pansy.
Note the prominence given to the white pansy.
Raised on a farm on P.E.I. where she “sat by the pond a lot,” Rachel MacDonald graduated from McMaster School of Nursing and, in 1964, took post-grad at Duke University. She then spent 30 years as an intensive care nurse at hospitals across Canada while raising five children.
She was instrumental in establishing Paint the Heartland in 1998 and it was at that event in Hartland that Mrs MacDonald first offered watercolour art lessons. Fifteen years later, she is still teaching and many other talented artists in this region can trace their success to her inspiration and encouragement.
As an adult with a stressful career and family responsibilities, how did you find the time to start painting?
It was quite accidental. My kids were all into music except for one of my sons who, when he was in Grade 10, announced that he wanted to be an artist. I didn't know where to begin to find an art teacher so I called the University of Maine. They recommended Don Cyr in Houlton saying that “if you feed him, he will come to your house.” So that’s what we did Sundays for three years.
You both took lessons?
I just observed at first but then Don got me started and I found that painting flowers was easy for me. Why, I have no idea.
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| White flowers, as shown in this section of a larger work, can be extremely difficult to portray effectively but Mrs MacDonald is clearly up to the challenge. |
You've said that your work “strongly reflects Atlantic Canada.”
I guess it must ─ I got a call one day back in 1992 from someone at the Small Business Development office in Fredericton who wanted me to display my art in a booth with them at international trade shows. That all led to starting my wholesale business, the Rachel Ann Collection.
Looking around your studio, it seems that you paint mostly flowers…
Flowers, and birds too. White flowers are my favourites ─ calla lilies, gladiolas ─ but Queen Anne’s Lace is so hard!
How so?
It’s their intricacy and the challenge in capturing that beauty. For my white flowers, I use no white paint. The pure white of the paper lends them brightness. The secret is to create a bit of contrast around the white flower.
It’s their intricacy and the challenge in capturing that beauty. For my white flowers, I use no white paint. The pure white of the paper lends them brightness. The secret is to create a bit of contrast around the white flower.
Which brings us to watercolour technique, which you've been teaching for the last six years.
It’s all about how to control the water. I almost excessively wet my paper to get the soft, gradual transitions from dark to light as the pigment flows through the water. But when you want a hard edge you need to wait for the adjoining areas to dry.
Yes, I can see what you mean in the red tulips painting.
This is all about creating contrast. Strong contrast helps the image look layered, gives it dimension. I’m really proud of that petal in front but if I had done all those at once, it would have been a mess.
I feel like I’ve had my own introductory art lesson today!
That’s good because I enjoy teaching watercolour technique and I also do a lot of demo’s. Watercolour is a minimal medium ─ a couple of pigments, a few brushes and water. I show my students how to mix colour, how to put it on paper and, most importantly, how to see.
By the way, did your son’s career aspirations come to fruition?
He’s now an artist and an associate professor at Brock University. As I like to say, there are no wrong steps in art.
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This dramatic detail from a larger study of spring tulips demonstrates MacDonald’s masterful technique which allows her to add considerable depth to a two-dimensional piece.
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