Rachel Cordaro started off with just a few cards in our MacKenzie-Childs Department. Our customers loved them! We quickly expanded her selection and her art pieces have developed quite the following! Rachel’s brand is now one of our top 50 vendors!! Out of the 1,000s of brands we carry her art and vision is really speaking to our guests! We love supporting local artists and are thrilled by Rachel’s success. Our MacKenzie-Childs manager asked her some behind the easel questions to find out about the blooming success of her floral art.

What’s your current inspiration?

My current inspiration has truly been the gift of being an artist for a living. I draw my creativity from the settled heart that can create any time it wants to and that is a beautiful thing! Sometimes my weeks are packed with errands, deadlines or on occasion hoisting up art tents, while schlepping artwork here and there but I do it with a smile and a Starbucks if I can juggle it. The majority of days I experience the things dreams are made of at home in my art studio. The walls are a Hydrangea blue with morning light pouring in. Not a huge space but those 4 walls nurture a special place that I can paint, stare at a half finished painting in my comfy chair with a mug up to my lips thinking what stroke I should make next. I’m happiest in messy clothes, messy bun and paintbrush in hand whether it’s on canvas or pottery! Some days I don’t go in my studio to work I spend the day reading, walking through nature, or soaking in some sun and laughs with the people I love! I live by this motto…"Leave room for inspiration and the mood to create will present itself!" I am truly getting to do what I believe I was made to do and that is create art!

You offer your art so many ways! What’s your favorite medium or piece of work?

My favorite medium is defiantly heavy bodied acrylic paint! I love the way it mixes with other colors on my pallet, the thick layers sit atop the canvas giving another dimension to my florals! Some of my favorite colors include Bronze yellow, Parchment, Mississippi mud and Midnight Garden. My favorite piece of artwork I have ever painted is a large magnolia painting that hangs in my art studio called “Flower Market” I guess I like it because it was one of my first Magnolia paintings I ever did and they are my favorite blossom!

Why you like selling at Parkleigh?

I love selling at Parkleigh because their boutique carries lots of the things I love! I grew up coming to Parkleigh and was dazzled by the character of the building. Everyone can agree it’s a treat to walk out of Parkleigh with a bag in hand, it just makes you feel happy! I can’t believe I am now one of Parkleigh’s top 50 vendors!