THE INSPIRATION OF A BLANK CANVAS

Rachelle Castro, (23), Painter, Australia.

Rachelle has been sketching and drawing since preschool and started painting around the age of 21, curating the beautiful "Of All The Things We've Made" Instagram account, inspired by a song she really loves.

What is the most memorable project or piece of art you have ever worked on and why?

It was a drawing of a broken-down home/house, and a little boy standing in front of it with some toys in his hands. It was at a time when my family wasn't really in a good place. One day I was confiding with a friend and she told me, "It's okay if things don't look the way they're meant to be yet." I kind of pictured that as my family and the brokenness of it. So I wanted to draw something that represented that: a broken home, but a child thinking they're big enough and capable enough to fix it. That was my favourite because it meant a lot to me and my family.

"In a way, I think God communicates to people through whispers and mysteries, right? And it's very subtle."

How do you see your art drawing others or yourself closer to God?

A lot of what I create is really my guts kind of spewing out. But in saying that, as emotional as my art could be, it's not very explicit. It doesn't have direct messages like "God loves you" or "Jesus died for you". It's very subtle in the messages that the art pieces can portray. In a way, I think God communicates to people through whispers and mysteries, right? And it's very subtle. I think He does that so that people can be curious and somehow fall in love with Him on the journey of discovering Him and who He is. So I think that the art I make is kind of like a whisper in the mystery. It's not very obvious. Maybe the art will start a conversation, maybe we can begin to talk about God and maybe you'll fall in love with Him in the process. So yes, it's a very subtle art in the hopes that people would be drawn to it and then it would begin a conversation. 

Are you working on anything at the moment?

I have ideas. I want to make a series of children's illustrations, not cheesy stories but big world problems from a child’s perspective so that we can kind of look at this pandemic as children again; and not see it as such a scary and terrible event, but just like an unexpected event. In my head, I'm working towards making a series of that but it’s still in the works.

"If I can't speak on platforms, if I can't speak to massive crowds, at least, I can create art that kind of travels throughout the world."

What is your Creative process like?

When it comes to creating, I never want to make something just for the sake of putting something out there. I always want it to have an intention. A couple of years ago, someone told me that I am called to make prophetic art. Back then, I think I was like "What the heck? What is that? So cheesy." As time went on, I was like "Oh that's so special". If I can't speak on platforms, if I can't speak to massive crowds, at least, I can create art that kind of travels throughout the world. So I wanted to make sure that everything that I made meant something to me. Because of that, my creative process is so long. Now during the pandemic, it looks like me spending my week nights (because I'm working full-time) just looking at Pinterest, finding colours and styles, making new playlists on Spotify to find new songs to inspire me, reading (if I can) because I love hearing stories and I love empathising with stories. During week nights, that's me just collecting all of that. And then on weekends, when I actually have the time to create, I've already collected all my inspiration throughout the week. Then by Friday, I have a concept in my mind. On Saturday morning, that's when I can begin to create drafts of what I imagined and gathered throughout the week. Maybe that would take an hour or two to get a start done and then three to four hours to perfect it and finalise it. That's the creative process. It's just a long time spent getting inspiration, conceptualising, and then it's such a short time making it.

"I'm always reminded that God had a blank slate as well. Before the beginning of time, it was just blank and He just created a masterpiece that's continuing to breathe, continuing to live, continuing to give life."

Do you feel that your art is sometimes a way to worship God? How does it connect you to God if it does?

I think so. Everytime. Before I used an iPad to create, I used paper and canvas. Every time I ripped open a new page, I used to be very intimidated by how blank it was. I was like " Oh man, I could ruin this real quick". But I'm always reminded that God had a blank slate as well. Before the beginning of time, it was just blank and He just created a masterpiece that's continuing to breathe, continuing to live, continuing to give life. And that's just Creation. So I think about God whenever I'm creating because I'm like "God created out of nothing. I can create out of nothing." And hopefully what I create also lives on beyond my time, as well as continues to bring life, continues to spread. It kind of reminds me that I'm His daughter, and because He's the Creator, it's like "I got my skills from my Dad."

Check out more of Rachelle's art on:

Instagram @ofallthethingswevemade