Kingswood resident Rachael Kent has taken up painting to help manage chronic pain, while also raising funds for Blonde Angel Street Team, a charity that supports homeless people in Bristol.
The painter takes inspiration from nature and Dr Seuss characters to create unique, eye-catching pieces. Using a palette of bright colours, Rachael’s artwork features natural elements, flower bouquets and underwater scenes, set against contrasting backgrounds.
Rachael said: “The colours in my paintings are generally really bright, so I get lost in putting them together. I can get so engrossed that I can easily lose an hour or two. It is also really good for my mental health. It allows me space and time to process my thoughts and feelings.”
Rachael suffers from multiple chronic health conditions, including a rare connective tissue disorder called Hypermobile Ehlers Danlos Syndrome (hEDS). Her condition causes her a lot of pain and it can sometimes be hard to complete everyday tasks. Painting often acts as a form of ‘active meditation’, thus helping her manage the pain. Rachael said: “I find it very difficult to sit still and switch off, but often my body physically needs to stop doing and just ‘be’. This is really difficult for me and my pain gets worse and worse.”
It was during the May 2020 lockdown that Rachael started painting. One day, she decided to begin painting rocks with positive messages and leave them in Kingswood Park for people to find. In 2022, after switching to painting on canvas using water based acrylic paints, she became hooked. Her very first painting featured flowers and foliage in bright hues of orange, purple, green and blue.
Rachael said: “I used to put the painted rocks in Kingswood Park and they always got taken away. This led to me doing a painting by numbers and finally to buying a canvas and having a go myself. I have never looked back. I absolutely love it!”
“As my collection grew, I started to give away a few of the children’s paintings on the ‘Bristol Mutual Aid’ Facebook group. Then I donated some to the ‘Aid Box’ charity shop. They were snapped up really fast, so I started to think about how I could perhaps use them to raise money for charity.”
Rachael sells her paintings locally via her Facebook page ‘Paintings by Rachael Kent’. Prices vary between £20-£25 depending on size, and all the proceeds go to the Blonde Angel Street Team. Having already raised over £500 for the charity, she intends to continue painting and supporting the charity.
Rachael said: “I have always had a desire to help the homeless and I became aware of an organisation called Blonde Angel Street Team a while back. I liked how ‘boots on the ground’ they are and I began to support them. More recently, I have discovered there is also an organisation right here in Kingswood ‘Helping Homeless Believe’, so I also intend to support them with future donations.”
“Now that people are buying my paintings to raise money for charity, that helps me to focus on remembering to stop and do something I love. It is (for me) a win-win situation.”
You can find Rachael’s Facebook page by visiting: https://www.facebook.com/people/Paintings-by-Rachael-Kent/100080198049377/ To find out more about Blonde Angel Street Team visit: https://www.neighbourly.com/project/5ef2182fc7ac8e24c41129ac/information