Rachel Teannalach is a contemporary landscape painter whose work is characterized by bold, gestural brushstrokes and her ability to evoke the emotional quality of the places she paints. She is known for her "tinyExpanse" daily paintings as well as large scale landscapes. Teannalach works primarily in oil paint, incorporating other media such as charcoal and oil pastels. Teannalach believes in art's ability to connect people and causes they believe in. For over a decade, Teannalach has collaborated with local and regional conservation organizations, supporting their efforts to preserve the lands she loves to paint. She also lends her work to support humanitarian and local arts organizations.
Teannalach’s style is characterized by bold brushstrokes and painterly nuance that evoke the emotional quality of landscape. She is known for both her small scale "tinyExpanse" daily paintings, as well as her large scale landscapes. Teannalach also offers variations of her work as textiles and wallpaper.
Teannalach grew up in Los Alamos, New Mexico, where an appreciation for beautiful landscapes was instilled early on. She earned a Bachelor of Arts Cum Laude in Fine Arts from Scripps College (Claremont, CA). She also studied at the Glasgow School of Art in Scotland, and Art Centers International in Florence, Italy. After college Teannalach lived in Marin County, CA for six years before making her home in Idaho in 2008.
Teannalach works in an "ala prima" style, which means "at the first attempt". Her fresh, expressive style places the viewer right in the experience of a specific time and place. Teannalach’s work emphasizes the importance of maintaining our sense of belonging in and responsibility to the natural world. For her, painting provides a way to step out of the frenzy that life so easily becomes. Art leaves, in the words of W.B. Yeats, “a little space for the rose-breath to fill.”
Teannalach frequently engages in collaborations with conservation organizations, supporting efforts to preserve the lands and waterways she loves to paint. She has worked with Conservation Voters of Idaho, Idaho Conservation League, Advocates for the West, Idaho Rivers United, Winter Wildlands Alliance, the Sawtooth Society, and more. Other organizations Teannalach has collaborated with include Agency for New Americans, Surel's Place, and the Idaho Youth Ranch.
Teannalach is currently represented by Capitol Contemporary Art in Boise and Echo Arts in Bozeman. Her work has been featured on Pottery Barn, Serena and Lily, and One King’s Lane. She has received commissions from the City of Ketchum and Sun Valley Resort, the City of Boise, and Saint Alphonsus Medical Center. Her work, which was gifted to President Biden during his visit to Boise in 2021, is collected widely throughout the United States and beyond.
