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PATTERNS OF THE FOREST
Rachel Loeffler Thursday, July 2 through Saturday, August 1, 2026 Opening Reception Friday, July 3, 5–7:00 pm Art Forum Online: Lecture About Process Thursday, July 16 at 7:30 pm (Register for the Art Forum) |
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Image Gallery (coming soon) Rachel Loeffler Website Rachel Loeffler Member Page Register for the Art Forum |
PATTERNS OF THE FOREST / RACHEL LOEFFLER
Rachel Loeffler brings the spirit of the boreal forests of Finland to Gallery A3, with paintings and three-dimensional interactive works celebrating the beauty of Norway spruces, Scots pines, and silver birches, along with abstract patterns based on the interplay of light, shadow, and leaves.
The healing power of nature and the wonder of light shifting through the seasons inspire Rachel, who invites us to step into the landscape with her. Her artworks emphasize the September golden light dappling against vertical trunks of native trees, with thick carpets of moss and ferns under foot. “The experience of the Finnish forest is otherworldly; the moss acts like snow—muting the movement and sounds that surround you, bathing you in light and movement of the trees,” Rachel says. “The trees grow tall and narrow with great density due to the climate, and the dense woods are backlit and full of magical light.”
The show is organized into groupings by “pattern” with original paintings, interactive three-dimensional abstractions, and an invitation for the community to become part of the exhibit by adding their own color selections to some of forest mosaic patterns on the walls. It also includes two kinetic landscape mosaic sculptures, composed of rotatable, removable, and re-arrangeable individual squares. These unique creations playfully invite viewers to move back and forth between a representative and an abstract awareness of the forest patterns.
“I want to bring people into the process of making, arranging, and playing with composition and color,” she continues. “Creativity takes many forms. I am hoping that the diversity of interaction with the art might spark curiosity and creativity in others and help them internalize the healing patterns of the forest.”
During coloring exercises with family and friends, Rachel realized that freely coloring in a mosaic pattern as a group has the potential to cultivate individual agency and autonomy, while strengthening a sense of group cohesion. This led Rachel to produce additional forest pattern kits for sale, expanding the show and allowing others to continue this experience beyond the gallery as part of their own meditative or creative practice, or to share with others in a group setting of their choosing.
Rachel Loeffler is an artist with a studio in South Amherst and a landscape architect at Berkshire Design Group in Northampton.
Rachel Loeffler brings the spirit of the boreal forests of Finland to Gallery A3, with paintings and three-dimensional interactive works celebrating the beauty of Norway spruces, Scots pines, and silver birches, along with abstract patterns based on the interplay of light, shadow, and leaves.
The healing power of nature and the wonder of light shifting through the seasons inspire Rachel, who invites us to step into the landscape with her. Her artworks emphasize the September golden light dappling against vertical trunks of native trees, with thick carpets of moss and ferns under foot. “The experience of the Finnish forest is otherworldly; the moss acts like snow—muting the movement and sounds that surround you, bathing you in light and movement of the trees,” Rachel says. “The trees grow tall and narrow with great density due to the climate, and the dense woods are backlit and full of magical light.”
The show is organized into groupings by “pattern” with original paintings, interactive three-dimensional abstractions, and an invitation for the community to become part of the exhibit by adding their own color selections to some of forest mosaic patterns on the walls. It also includes two kinetic landscape mosaic sculptures, composed of rotatable, removable, and re-arrangeable individual squares. These unique creations playfully invite viewers to move back and forth between a representative and an abstract awareness of the forest patterns.
“I want to bring people into the process of making, arranging, and playing with composition and color,” she continues. “Creativity takes many forms. I am hoping that the diversity of interaction with the art might spark curiosity and creativity in others and help them internalize the healing patterns of the forest.”
During coloring exercises with family and friends, Rachel realized that freely coloring in a mosaic pattern as a group has the potential to cultivate individual agency and autonomy, while strengthening a sense of group cohesion. This led Rachel to produce additional forest pattern kits for sale, expanding the show and allowing others to continue this experience beyond the gallery as part of their own meditative or creative practice, or to share with others in a group setting of their choosing.
Rachel Loeffler is an artist with a studio in South Amherst and a landscape architect at Berkshire Design Group in Northampton.
Rachel Loeffler, Linnea’s World, tactile painting, acrylic with gesso ribbing, on 4 mil Dura-Lar
ART FORUM ONLINE / Lecture on Process
In an Art Forum on Zoom on Thursday, July 16 at 7:30 pm, Rachel will share information about the craft and process of her current work. Register on for this online event by clicking here. This Art for Community II program is supported in part by a grant from the Amherst Cultural Council, a local agency, which is supported by the Massachusetts Cultural Council, a state agency.
In an Art Forum on Zoom on Thursday, July 16 at 7:30 pm, Rachel will share information about the craft and process of her current work. Register on for this online event by clicking here. This Art for Community II program is supported in part by a grant from the Amherst Cultural Council, a local agency, which is supported by the Massachusetts Cultural Council, a state agency.