Rachel Brooks Read
Portfolio of selected works

Rachel Brooks Read studied at Brighton College of Art, graduating with a degree in Illustration and Graphic Design, and a love of the city of Brighton, which has remained her home.

After a period working as an illustrator for the BBC, in Children’s Programmes, she became an art educator and dedicated herself to this pursuit for many years, occasionally undertaking editorial commissions and participating in group exhibitions.

Leaving the profession afforded the opportunity to pursue and develop her artistic practice. Relief printmaking, screen printing and etching were pivotal in developing her portfolio, though drawing, painting and illustration remain central to the development of her ideas.

Rachel enjoys utilising a range of materials to explore a variety of themes through her work, which ranges from being illustrative and stylized, to that based on drawing from direct observation. Her interest in Japanese prints, and the work of Vuillard, Diebenkorn, and Hammershoi, is evident in the pieces she makes.

Through living and working in Brighton she has held several Artists Open House events and been an invited artist to others. She has also participated in a number of art fairs and group exhibitions, both locally and further afield, including The Affordable Art Fair, The Society of Women Artists, at the Mall Gallery, the Cork Street Open, London, where she won the Printmakers Prize, Chalk at the Towner Gallery, Eastbourne, Brighton Art Fair, Pure Art Fair, Battle and Art and Soul, Falmer, Sussex.

Rachel was also a member of the Chalk Gallery in Lewes for some years and was recently a ‘Guest Artist’ of Salt Edge Arts, at their group exhibition, ‘Time and Tide’ (Seaford, August 2023) and at their ‘Shorelines’ exhibition (Seaford, August 2024).

New work will be shown at a group show, ‘Shared Stories’ at The Regency Town House, Hove, from 24 to 28 October 2024.