Rachel Personett

Born in 1991, Hawaii, raised in Monument, Colorado; currently lives in Gothenburg, Sweden

The daughter of an airline pilot and a graphic designer, Rachel Personett developed a taste for travel and art at an early age. Both parents impressed upon her that there was more than one way to look at the world. While her father may have opened her eyes to a variety of different cultures by virtue of air – travel, it was her mother who shared with her an appreciation of the arts, adventure and fine craftsmanship – the fruits of culture.

Personett began her academic studies at the Savannah College of Art and Design. Seeking a more traditional approach to painting and drawing she enrolled at The Angel Academy of Art in Florence, Italy and subsequently completed her formal training at the Florence Academy of Art where she fell in love with the works of Velázquez, John Singer Sargent, Joaquín Sorolla, Willard Metcalf, and Henri Fantin-Latour. After completing the full-time program at the Florence Academy she moved to Norway and began an apprenticeship with figure painter, Odd Nerdrum. This experience gave her a newfound respect for the works of Rembrandt and Scandinavian painters such as Edward Munch, Anders Zorn, and Fritz Thaulow.Equally adept at still life and figure painting, Personett has recently turned her attention to the genre of plein air painting of which she excels. Inspired by the works of 19th c. Impressionists Claude Monet, Édouard Manet and Edgar Degas, Personett concerns herself most with capturing the ephemeral and must work quickly to capture what she is experiencing in nature. With very free brush strokes, and an underlying knowledge of structure, she creates an intense sense of dynamism within each work.

Rachel Presonett is represented by galleries in New York, California and Massachusetts. She has participated in several group shows in the United States and abroad. She currently lives, paints, and teaches at the Florence Academy in Sweden.