Life & Work with Rachel J Haungs of Huntersville

Today we’d like to introduce you to Rachel J Haungs.

Hi Rachel J, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I’ve been an artist for as long as I can remember. My mother is extremely creative in fiber arts and my grandfather was a drafter and artist. They both poured a lot of love into nourishing interest in the arts from a very young age, and that sustained through school.

Fast forward to college—I ventured to Boone to study graphic design through their fine arts department. I took every fine art class I could sign up for while juggling the design coursework. Painting and drawing kept me sane—as did the serenity of the landscape—in spite of adding so much to my plate. After graduation, I continued to dabble in painting, but juggling multiple jobs—private music instruction, design, photography—it slowly fell in priority until one year I finally decided to change that.

I started painting as much as I could—aiming for something small every day for weeks. That’s where I found my style—painting vibrant pet portraits of all things. The momentum slowly built and I took on more commissions until I became a mother, and everything but my family and design career was put on pause.

A couple of years post partum with my second child, I set the goal of exhibiting one piece in 2024 based on my own reference of the mountains and it took off from there. Within weeks of completing that piece—Craggy Pinnacle Colourscape—Helene hit. With loved ones and the communities I love devastated and my living a couple hours away, I battled a lot with helplessness and decided to channel that into fundraising with my art.

That led to my applying and being accepted into the 12th Annual Winter Juried Exhibit with Mooresville Arts, where I was fortunate to be recognized with a Juror’s Choice award. That one “yes” and recognition gave me a little courage, and so many doors of opportunity and inspiration to opened up since—over twenty shows and events so far this year.

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
The hardest part of my journey as an artist has been the self doubt and time. Compounded, it is ultimately what has kept me from pursuing this sooner. Imposter syndrome isn’t something unique to my experience as a creative, but it’s common for reason. For a while I felt like the fact I opted for the design degree over painting meant I was less than, less worthy of being accepted into the fine art space. I let intimidation stifle exploring my creative vision and thus creating a more cohesive, focused body of work.

Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I’m a fine artist focused on creating vibrant, expressive paintings. My most recognized body of work is the Colourscape series—inspired by the enduring beauty of the Appalachian Mountains. This series captures moments of peace, grief, awe, and resilience, serving as a release during peak emotion as I process life and show up as the mother, wife, leader, and woman I aim to be.

In the most chaotic moments, I look to the strength and memory in these mountain ranges, finding comfort in their ancient ridges and magic in the clouds and fog that settle in their valleys. After Helene, it’s also where I decided to channel my grief and desire to help by fundraising through the sale of prints and originals from the series. Being able to create change and provide relief to those who need it with art is something I am most grateful for.

Another developing series is In the Garden—a meditation on quiet, everyday magic in nature, I celebrate the resilience and renewal of natural cycles by capturing fleeting moments of beauty and joy that might otherwise go unnoticed or forgotten.

Then, there’s The Band—a series of unserious, jazzy paintings and mixed media pieces born from the need to stop doom-scrolling and reconnect with play. Leaning on my background in music, they’re loose, experimental, energetic marker drawings embellished with watercolour and one-sitting acrylic pieces that leans on subtractive painting techniques for highlights and texture, all with a splash of metallics. To my surprise, this series gained curatorial attention nearly immediately, leading to the “founding members” exhibiting at the Gallery at Morning Star in Matthews, and Mahogany Fire Les Paul being sent to Brooklyn for AMPED: The Art of Rock & Roll with the Brooklyn Waterfront Artists Coalition! Of all the things that have happened this year, exhibiting in New York certainly wasn’t something I was anticipating or even aiming for.

If you had to, what characteristic of yours would you give the most credit to?
The biggest hurdle standing between me and putting myself out there as an artist has been myself. I have struggled for a while to prioritize my own goals—motherhood, marriage, career aside. Accepting that I both deserve to chase my dreams AND believe I have what it takes to go after them is not a feeling in which I’m standing two feet firmly planted. But, I’m working on that. I could say determination…hard work…natural inspiration…all of those things can be factors in being successful. But, for me, the bravery to believe in myself is the key that unlocked all of the potential.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.artbyracheljhaungs.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/artbyracheljhaungs
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/artbyracheljohnsonhaungs
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rachel-haungs-a37a4749