Rachel Young is a mosaic bead painter. She was born in Richland, Washington, in 1972. After growing up in the Pacific Northwest, she lived for many years in the Bay Area and finally settled down in Portland, Oregon where she has lived for the past 19 years. She holds degrees in Nursing and Psychology, and has worked as a Registered Nurse for over 13 years. 

 

Intrigued by the intricacies of the tiny that are often overlooked, Rachel Young’s passion for color, texture, and balance embodies the beauty and depth of a macro view of natural and human made subjects. Rachel’s artwork is frequently described as “painting with beads”. She employs ancient, indigenous, Mexican Huichol beading techniques to create contemporary artwork by embedding thousands of glass beads into beeswax/resin. Every bead is individually applied to create a unique and modern perspective from an age-old art technique. Each piece contains approximately 285 beads per square inch. Nearly 50,000 beads create a 13” x 13” artwork. 

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Rachel has practiced Huichol-style beadwork since 2016. After a traumatic hip dislocation and a near-death, medical event in October 2018, mobility restrictions prevented her from bearing weight and sitting above 90 degrees for many months. Unable to work, she filled her days and frequently sleepless nights with rediscovering and refining her artistic voice and technique. She now uses her beading process as a meditative, creative conduit bringing with it healing and strength.