It’s a huge privilege that as a Muddy editor I get to hear so many inspiring tales of women who have taken a leap of faith to follow their heart and make a living doing what they excel at. But few are as moving as Rachel Stanton’s, an emerging expressive artist who paints contemporary seascapes inspired by the North Devon coast.

Up until two years ago, Rachel was happily married with two lovely kids and a demanding job working for the council helping vulnerable families, when she had a full-on breakdown brought on being sexually abused as a child. It was a make or break moment, but also a wake-up call for Rachel which after much soul searching gave her the momentum and courage to ditch the day job and re-discover artistic talents which she’d not used for twenty years.

She got herself on an art diploma course at Petroc College and, entirely self-funded while painting on a second-hand easel, she set her heart on earning a living as an artist.

Fast forward to winter 2020, and Rachel is now a professional artist, taking her inspo from daily walks with her two dogs along the south west coast path, where she sketches in charcoal then returns to her garden workshop to turn them into seascapes. When the Devon winters get too cold and damp, she de-camps to a spare upstairs room in her home in a little village along the River Torridge in North Devon.

Rachel’s cards, limited edition prints and original art are stunning, painted in a mixture of acrylic and watercolour on contemporary birchwood cradled panels. You don’t have to know this particular part of Devon to feel in tune with those sweeping panoramas of skies and sea. Just to look at them is to feel that sense of connection but you might recognise some well-known landmarks, just a short walk from her home, like Instow beach with its views over to Appledore and Crow Point, and windy clifftop walks along the rugged coastline at Westward Ho! looking out towards Clovelly, Hartland Point and Lundy in the distance and the rock-pools below.

Testament to her talent and proving, as Rachel says, “There is life after crap”, her work is going like the clappers, snapped up by coastal art fans as far afield as The Netherlands, and as gifts for special birthdays, for coast lovers and Devon ex-pats who miss the sea.

And she’s not planning to stop there. Rachel is on a mission to put North Devon art and artists on the map, rather like St Ives, with plans to form an art collective with other local artists and also to use her expertise and personal experience to run art workshops for mental health.

So, if you love local art on your wall, you miss the coast, or just want to support one super-talented Devon woman and love how she has used her art to overcome, then don’t hold back. Check out her paintings and go show your art appreciation!