Rachel Arif

Abstract landscape artist Rachel Arif spends much of her life travelling the UK to uncover inspiration from the country's rich scenery.

She is drawn to coastal regions, picturesque rural villages and beautiful marshes, which she uses as subjects in her loose, abstract work. Immersing herself fully into these environments, sometimes for a number of hours at a time, she then applies paint to canvas quickly and energetically to create highly textured, atmospheric and weather-filled works, which captivate viewers and draw them in. Admirers of Arif's work often describe a feeling of immense calm, something she humbly attributes to nature's own magnificent force, rather than her personal artistic abilities.  

Arif's work has been exhibited at the prestigious Mall Galleries in London, where renowned Art Critic, Richard Fitzwilliam, named her painting 'Ghost Dance' as one of his favourites in the show.

As a child, Arif's deep affection for drawing and painting led her to be regularly scolded by teachers for drawing in all of her textbooks. She went on to study History of Art in Manchester before forging a successful career in interior design. Eventually however, her longing to create led to her taking the leap and creating a home studio from which she worked tirelessly for a number of years, honing her style and identity. Sketches gave way to more complex pieces and she soon found herself in artistic demand, creating large-scale commissions and being invited to exhibit in galleries across the world.