Rachel Neikirk is a silk painter and art educator originally from Philadelphia. She earned a BA in Painting from Gordon College and an MA in Art Education from the University of Florida. She has taught art to students of all ages in schools, community workshops, and private lessons. She has traveled extensively including completing an artist residency in Morocco and doing research for her master’s thesis in the Dominican Republic. She is currently writing a book about the spiritual dimensions of color.
Her work on silk began in 2016 when she was working at an art supply store and purchased some silk painting supplies to try them out. She found that the medium suited her interest in line and color. She became excited about the possibilities of working with fabric and observed during her travels that wearable art broke down cultural barriers in a special way. She creates custom silk scarves and paintings inspired by trees and flowers, patterns, and biblical imagery.