Introducing an Alberta artist selected through FATHOM to join the Rocky Mountain Art Tour as a Founding Artist.
Some paintings remind us of somewhere we’ve been. Others make us feel connected to a place we have yet to discover. Rachel Steen’s work invites both responses.
An Alberta-based artist, Rachel explores Canadian landscapes and wildlife through colour, memory and imagination. Her paintings bring an expressive, atmospheric perspective to the natural world, inviting viewers to pause and consider their own connection to it.
A Connection Made Through FATHOM
Our introduction to Rachel came through FATHOM, an Edmonton art showcase presented by Public Display Agency, where LJL Galleries and the Rocky Mountain Art Tour participated as gallery partners. The event brought together artists working across a range of disciplines, creating opportunities for discovery and future collaboration.
Following our review of the participating artists, we selected Rachel to join RMAT as a Founding Artist. What stood out was the connection between her subject matter and the experience we’re creating: discovering places through the artists who interpret them.
We’ll share more about Public Display Agency and FATHOM in a separate journal feature. Here, we’re delighted to introduce Rachel and the work that caught our attention.
Why Her Work Belongs on the Tour
RMAT connects art, culture and community across Alberta and British Columbia, encouraging visitors to build their own self-guided experience. Rachel’s paintings offer another way to explore those connections.
Her landscapes and wildlife reflect the natural surroundings that draw people to our regions, while her use of colour and atmosphere gives viewers something personal to respond to. In her collection Northern Reverie, memory and imagination shape a vision of Canada that feels both familiar and dreamlike.
That relationship between place and personal experience is why we felt her work was such a strong fit. A painting can recall a journey, spark curiosity about a destination or help us see familiar surroundings differently. Rachel’s work opens the door to each of those possibilities.
Discover Rachel’s Work
While the RMAT online storefront is being completed, you can explore Rachel’s collections on her website and contact her directly about available artwork or a commissioned piece.
Explore her work: rachelsteen.com
Follow her latest updates: @rachelsteenart
We’re pleased to welcome Rachel to the Rocky Mountain Art Tour and look forward to sharing more of her work as the renewed program takes shape.