Rachael Padilla

Selfie in Three Parts

A haiku:

I'm in the backyard. 

Tried to make it safari.

Saw no elephants.

If you look closely, you can see puddles on the ground behind me in the instant pic. There was an afternoon rain that swept through and soaked everything. Rather than go get soggy in the rain, I took my photo from the step. I enjoyed watching the rain falling, and the feel of the humidity and smell of Georgia rain. I did see some angry, wet birds with my binoculars, but no big game!

Selfie in Three Parts

A haiku:

Summer mosquitoes

Bite me, leaving itchy spots.

I will scratch them raw.

Wednesday Walk: Deep Woods

It is so unbelievably hot outside! I sometimes find the deeper, darker woods a bit cooler, but that was not the case today. 

I felt like a vegetable in a steam basket. I'm not even sure if I was sweating or if I was experiencing some kind of condensation from my body temp being cooler than the air, like a cold can of Coca Cola. 

It was a hot and sticky walk! 

https...

Selfie in Three Parts

I thought that the rain

Would somehow cool the hot day.

Now it’s just steamy.

I tried to get a long walk in this morning, but it is so humid and hot that I didn’t go as far as I’d hoped. Most of the day I’ve spent indoors working on my editing. When it rained, I thought for sure it would be more bearable outside, but I was wrong!

I hope you’re having a pleasant day!

Tuesday Update: Independence Day

I may have been a little distracted by the fireworks and forgotten at least half of what I intended to say... 

Independence Day isn't all about the fireworks. I love the diversity of cultures and richness of history that makes up the melting pot of the USA! 

It's far from perfect (as everything is), and I, along with so many others, are still striving for improvement. As is the case with the E.R.A., or the Equal Rights Amendment. First proposed in 1923, and still not rat...

Getting clean

A couple of weeks ago I posted a video of the rain falling like a shower.  It was cool and refreshing to make and I was happy with the results visually.  While rinsing coconut scented oil off of myself I thought about the rain that is created inside my hose every day, and I wondered if I could make the mundane at all lovely.  I think that the music helps. 

On the Easel

What's on the easel this week? Finishing up last week's painting!

I began working on this piece in a livestream last Monday on YouTube. It is my version of the Black Cat Fireworks logo. I have many memories of being a kid and lighting Black Cat firecrackers. Especially this time of year. Fireworks seem to be an American tradition for Independence Day. 

I am celebrating independence, freedom, and liberty in my own way. It's been very hot even indoors! 

I hope that y...

Stomping walkin' in my big black boots.

Here are some photos of me in a few different locations wearing my big black boots!  I don't think that these have been posted before, but if they have, enjoy them again! 

Behind the Scenes: Gesture Drawing

I tried something a bit different today!

New lighting in blue/purple as I sketched the day's gestural drawing. A bit funky, a bit quirky. And set to music that seems in a similar tone. 

Real time, no adjustments in the time it actually takes to sketch myself in the mirror. 

Trouble viewing? 

Try this:

https://vimeo.com/841564630/4a4c36a8d7

Selfie in Three Parts

Extreme heat warning.

I’m fanning my face in vain.

I must stay indoors.

It is so hot! Fortunately I was able to get some yard work done earlier in the morning. Work outdoors in the late afternoon today would’ve been impossible.

Keeping cool inside with a glass of sweet tea. I hope your weekend is going well!

Summer Fun

I've made a short movie using a  compilation of footage that really won't be used anywhere else. I'm often seeking out new ways to share behind the scenes looks into life. The theme here being that of summer fun. Fun in the sun, relaxing and blowing bubbles, just generally enjoying the heat! 

It's set to a short song that seemed a bit whimsical and from a bygone decade, called "Summer in the Sixties". 

2023-06-30 22:50:54 +0000 UTC View Post

Selfie in Three Parts

Today’s haiku:

Fires, far distant

Wind carries small ke to the south.

The sun feels angry.

It appears that the smoke from Canadian wildfires has reached the south. Air quality was poor, so I was mostly indoors. With the exception of the moment to shoot today’s instant pic. You may have noticed the costume change between the photo and the drawing. I took some additional footage today for a video I’m working on!

Selfie in Three Parts: Double Exposure

Double exposure:

Sharing reflections on self,

Perceived and feeling.

Which I wrote because of the double exposed instant picture I captured today using my LomoInstant camera. It has a lot of creative and artistic settings and functions.

But I also wrote about double exposure because creating self portraits is a very exposing personal process. Doubled by sharing my form with my thoughts.

Wednesday Walk

Another walk through the beautiful and striking landscape of Mt. Arabia.

I'm completely in awe of the breadth of sky and stone! I'd likely go everyday if it were closer. 

This footage is paired with the song, "Stealin" by David Grisman and Jerry Garcia.

Fun fact: The Pet Sematary was located on this mountain from the 1992 Pet Sematary 2. Of course there is no actual pet cemetery located on the mountain. 

Trouble viewing?

2023-06-28 23:00:04 +0000 UTC View Post

Tuesday Update

Happy Taco Tuesday! It's the last Tuesday of June, and summer is heating up.

I had a particularly active day today, and I'm a bit tired as a result. Most everything I did was physical in some regard: even down to throwing clay on a pottery wheel. 

I hope your week is off to a great start! 

If you're having trouble viewing, please try this:

https://vimeo.com/840238927/65a83aa...

Selfie in Three Parts

Today’s haiku:

Coconut oil

Tunes play from the radio

I lounge in lawn chairs.

It was the perfect kind of summer day. Not much to do, nowhere to be. I enjoyed the lawn chairs in sunshine!

A Poetry Reading

Richard Brautigan: :Your Departure vs. The Hindenburg".

I so enjoy reading the poetry of Richard Brautigan! For this reading, a short poem about the loneliness, solitude and depression that can easily overcome you when the love of your life departs. Like missing the sunshine, or the smoke that descends after the Hindenburg crashes. 

https://vimeo.com/839366152/ace7741812

In Progress: 3 Exercises

I've been working on expanding my understanding and use of line in drawings. 

It began some weeks ago when I committed to creating regular gesture drawings using myself as a model. It continues with exploring how to create different moods with a variety of mark making. 

For this exercise, I am drawing a teacup on a saucer. For each, I begin with a very light sketch of the outline of the shape to create a form on which to apply more dynamic lines. 

The first cu...

5 Minutes in the Rain

Here, a performative piece taking advantage of the rain.

Using the elements of time, space, and body, I've placed myself in the rain. Typically, this action of simply enjoying the rain is a private experience, but by recording it and sharing it with an audience, it transforms the very action into performance. It is no longer a single person experience of a moment in time.

Imagine if you will, the temperature of the rain, the experience of rain running into the eyes, soaking hair a...

Behind the Scenes: Gesture Drawing Coyote

Behind the scenes, in real time: a gesture drawing revisiting a theme from my series, "They Call Me Coyote". 

It was a refreshing gesture drawing in that I love this subject matter, and I love drawing texture. The soft and beautiful fur of my coyote cloak  really aided in drawing a unique texture and subject! 

Trouble viewing? Try this: 

https://vimeo.com/839193749/74361...

Selfie in Three Parts

A haiku:

Among the sagebrush

I know you're there but hidden

Howling lonely songs.

The sound of the coyotes howling in the prairies and woods of where I grew up is a sound I recall clearly. I thought of that sound today as I revisited the costume for the  "Coyote Priestess" from my collection "They Call Me Coyote". 

The cloak provided me with an amazing and fun texture for today's drawing!

Behind the Scenes: Gesture Drawing in Progress

A dramatic blue top was the inspiration for this gesture drawing. 

It provided me the opportunity to create more dramatic lines as I sketched. With the big ruffles and puffy sleeves, I was definitely inspired by the variety of direction and movement provided by this unique article of clothing! Even the swirling lines of my glass earrings provided a bit of motion!

Trouble viewing? Try this:

2023-06-22 23:00:04 +0000 UTC View Post

Selfie in Three Parts

A haiku:

The air, thick and wet.

Rain swept through leaving droplets

On orange lilies.

Rain has kept me indoors a lot this week. I brightened my day with a colorful bright blue top that has sleeves and embellishments that remind me of flower petals. As an added bonus, it’s really fun to draw!

On the Easel

On the easel today was an exercise in line. Line in a painting or drawing ultimately guides the eye, gives the viewer a direction to look. It serves to both create form and inform a feeling.

I created 3 drawings today intended to explore the variations of my mark making in charcoal,  graphite pencil, and charcoal pencil.

https://vimeo.com/838450702/13f194f6f5

Tuesday Update

Happy Taco Tuesday! I hope your week is off to an amazing start!

With the recent rain, I've been enjoying the green and cool. It's still an unusually cool summer, but I'll take it! I've been streaming consistently on YouTube and furthering my explorations of logo, typography and pop culture. I have plans to further these explorations, along with some other stuff I cover in this week's update. 

Thank you so much for being here, and helping to support a living artist!

2023-06-20 23:24:15 +0000 UTC View Post

Selfie in Three Parts

A haiku:

Crack of thunder

It shook me and pierced my dreams

Did it tear the sky?

I was torn from sleep in the night from one of the loudest rolls of thunder. I’m always a little surprised at how irrational thoughts can become in that half state of sleep and awake. As it was, it didn’t tear the sky, just let loose a deluge of rain!

Selfie in Three Parts

A haiku:

Lawn mower grumbles

Over grasses tall and green

Summer work's sweet scent. 

I love yard work. I know that it's hot and sweaty, but I always feel as though the satisfaction of it outweighs the sheer work of it. There's a comfort in feeling like in some small way, I have a bit of control of the world around me. Nature would happily take over my lawn with an entire forest of oak trees that have sprouted in nearly every inch the yard. The other reward of movi...

Gesture Drawing in Progress

Another recorded gesture drawing to show the entire process of how I use myself as a model. 

Prior to creating videos for YouTube and Patreon, I had never seen myself work. As a self-portrait (selfie) artist, seeing the process is an added layer of self reflection. Both literally (my self is reflecting in the mirror that I use), and figuratively. It's a strange layering of self awareness: watching a recording of me creating a drawing of me as it would be seen by someone else. ...

Kaleidoscope

While painting a close-up of Wile E. Coyote on YouTube during Monday night's livestream, I was reminded of this skirt. It's called, "BOOM! 5", the only textile in my BOOM! series. The series is a collection inspired by Saturday morning cartoons that I watched as a kid. There are frames of explosions, or booms, in the Coyote and Roadrunner series that as an adult, I find to be unique and beautiful works of art. There is so much artistry to be found and appreciated about those particular cartoo...

Selfie in Three Parts 6.16.23

A haiku: 

Kaleidoscope life

Colors that spin united

Diff'rent, yet fitting. 

As I spun around today in my full circle "Boom" skirt, I was reminded of the nature of a kaleidoscope. All the little bits of glass and color in an array of chaos, that somehow come together beautifully. I like to think of life like that, an array of things that don't always make sense and seem disjointed, until I can see the whole picture.