Artist says Feb. show at Mansion House not all hearts and flowers

There is no better time for painting than the morning hours, Rachel Stevenson insists. This is when the sun is gentle, the day still soft and the creative juices are ready to flow.

And there’s no place she’d rather start a day than in her studio, tucked behind her Hagerstown home and filled with early light that settles perfectly on her paints and canvases.


If she had her way, it’s a routine that would seldom vary.

But as a mother who home-schools her children and occasionally does daycare, there’s no such thing as routine.

Instead, she catches moments to paint whenever they present themselves.

“I try to steal an hour here and there,” Stevenson shared.

With an upcoming art exhibit, however, the local woman has had to find bigger blocks of time to retreat to her work area.

She will be among the artists featured in a “Be My Valentine” exhibition at The Mansion House Gallery in Hagerstown’s City Park. Presented by the Valley Art Association, the all-member show opens Friday, Feb. 3, in the North Gallery and continues throughout the month.

Stevenson said those expecting to see paintings of hearts and flowers might be surprised.

“It’s an exhibit that takes place in February — a month associated with Valentine’s Day — but artists can display anything they wish,” she explained.

Stevenson will be showcasing three of her oil paintings, two of which are water scenes — “Outside the Walls” and “Reflections.”

“They’re particular favorites of mine,” she said.

Stevenson said she doesn’t remember a time when she didn’t enjoy art.

“I loved to color and draw as a child,” she recalled. “But I felt like I was never good enough to be a real artist.

“Compared to others, I never thought I’d go anywhere with what talent I had. I lacked confidence. But I kept doing it, mostly as a hobby.”

When it came time for college, Stevenson decided to major in English and art at Shippensburg University.

Although she didn’t graduate from Shippensburg, “it was my mother who encouraged me to stay involved with art,” she said. “She was always telling me I was good.”

Following marriage, Stevenson said she and her husband lived in Connecticut and New Jersey, where she found jobs in graphic design. She also continued to take art classes.

Her art background, she said, is “a hodgepodge as far as painting goes. I draw, do acrylics and watercolors. And I think you can learn something from every medium.”