Mixing business with pleasure is something Rachel Curry does with her unique artwork, which unites industrial materials and the canvas.
Her home and studio are set up in Clyde, an area she said fosters her passion for art and experimentation. This passion for experimentation is showcased by her favourite medium of acrylic stucco, a construction material that very few artists work with.
“It’s not something you can buy at your local arts and supplies store. (There’s) MSDS regulations, safety issues with it that you need to be aware of. It just handles different than standard materials,” she said.
Curry was recently featured in an industry magazine, The Trowel, which highlighted her skills as well as brought a new focus to this uncommon type of art.
She first began experimenting with this material when she started a position with Edmonton-based Brock White Canada, which is a construction materials supplier. In an effort to learn about the product she was selling, she took some of the product home where her creative flair with the product was birthed.
She also works with a variety of other media, like stones and paint, with many of her materials coming from her employer.
Through her work, Curry was awarded the Pushing the Envelope Award for Innovation by the Alberta Wall and Ceiling Association. She said this was her biggest accomplishment to date.
“It was an award given to me by my peers that recognizes the work that I’ve done with acrylic stuccos,” she said.
Much of the work Curry does comes from her studio and surrounding areas in Clyde.
“We’re the only house at the end of a dead-end road. From an artist’s standpoint, it doesn’t get any better than that,” Curry said. “I can do my own thing, my yard is always over-ridden with construction materials and it’s perfect.”
She said she is able to draw a great deal of inspiration from being in a rural setting with peaceful surroundings, adding that natural elements play a big role in her art work.
“My work is art inspired by nature, nature embraced in art.
“My neighbourhood fosters all of my artwork,” she said.
A recent project she completed that drew inspiration from her outdoor surroundings was a feature wall at the Bold Centre in Lac La Biche.
Up next for Curry is teaching a seminar for the Alberta Architects Association. They meet every two years for a large convention and training session in Banff, and this year, she has been invited to present on the history of stone.
Another project in limbo is the completion of a meditation room at the Edmonton Clinic South, where Curry might be awarded the spot to work on faux finishing in the room. She expects to hear the clinic’s decision early in the week.
“Doing that would be a first in a big commercial setting. It’s an area that, for me, it’s sort of fond to my heart,” Curry said. “I’m an artist, so we’re into all that freaky meditation and weird stuff and it would be a very, very cool project.”
To see more of what Curry has on the go, visit her Facebook page called Studio in the Woods … Art by Rae.
