'If You Want To Walk On Water, You Have To Get Out Of The Boat'

A Fine Art graduate of UU, living in rural Derry, Rachel has been creating and selling original oil paintings from her home studio, selling through galleries, auctions, and online art dealers such as Saatchi Art.

Her paintings have been purchased by private collectors in USA, Europe, UK and Ireland.

Living in the countryside, her rural surroundings inform the work and her subject matter consists of all things natural.“We’ve got a farmer next door and we’ve had visits, through holes in our hedge, from his goats, rare hen breeds, guinea fowl and peacocks. We loved watching them roam around in our garden, even when the goats ate my camellia plants down to a stump!”

Rachel’s style is influenced by the bold use of colour of the post-impressionists and she cites Matisse, Gauguin and Bonnard among those who’ve inspired her. “It’s the passage of light, the vibrancy, the drama, the warmth of the Mediterranean in their paintings which brings the joy."

Of course Derry doesn’t have the climate of Nice, but according to Rachel, Ireland’s weather has its own beauty. Her landscapes capture the movement of clouds casting shadows, dappled sunlight, the patchwork of verdant fields. They are unmistakably Irish.

Now in her early fifties, Rachel is taking her first entrepreneurial steps as a gallerist.

“Initially I was embarrassed to tell people that I wanted to open my own gallery. I thought I’d be considered too old and too inexperienced in the world of business. Nevertheless, my passion for painting is strong, as is my desire to exhibit a body of my work in my hometown."

Rachel summoned the courage to move out of her comfort zone, despite the challenges involved. She refers to an account in the bible where the disciples were in a boat in a storm and Jesus came towards them, walking on the water. Peter asked, “Lord, call me to come to you, I want to walk on the water too”.

Rachel says: “Poor Peter is often criticised for faltering in his faith because he took a few steps and then panicked and he almost drowned. But Peter was the only disciple to climb out of that boat! I’d rather try something and learn from the experience, than never know what might have happened.”

‘McCormick Fine Art’ has now opened at the bottom of Carlisle Road in Derry, giving Rachel full control over the curation of her work and allowing the public to meet the artist.

The bijou gallery also incorporates a studio space where Rachel can be seen sitting at her easel, and there will always be a work in progress.

Thankfully Rachel took the leap and Derry now has an attractive new addition to its cultural offering.