The TMI Version About the Artist Behind it All

✨ It feels about time that I re-introduce myself and share a bit more about who I am as a whole… and what better day to do so than on my birthday :)

👋 I'm Rae or Rachael Amber, I use they/them or she/her pronouns.

I help sensitive beings find wisdom and support in the ever-changing cycles of life, even when they feel resistance and fear around change.

🌈 I'm a queer, non-binary, latine artist who channels nature-centric art & healing tools to raise awareness, hold space for healing, and foster connection between all living beings.

🐱🤝 I live in so-called Maine aka Wabanaki lands my sweet wild partner of 8 years & our 2 beloved fur babies 😚

First it’s really important for me to honor my earthly origins and also recognize that I live on unceded Wabankai lands & grew up on Lenape lands. I know I am an humble guest here and simultaneously an integral part of the larger whole - and so I strive to honor my role.

🌎 My family lineages are rooted from Borikén/Puerto Rico, Italy, Austria-Hungary, and in the past various places on the Iberian peninsula, other parts of Europe & around the Mediterranean sea.

🧑‍🎨🌿🌕 My creative focus comes to life through illustration, design, intuitive arts, writing, social + environmental advocacy, ecology and mental & menstrual mindfulness.

♾️💫♻️ Most of my artwork focuses on depicting the energetic interconnection between ourselves, one another & the natural world.

🪐🌲📿✍️ I'm also deeply interested in astrology, divination, spiritual + religious intersections, Earth-based lineages, Eco-Dharma, embodiment / somatics, language, lesser-told histories & much more.

💧🟢 My favorite thing is probably a tie between walking on moss and being in or near a waterbody.

🐱 I'm in love with reading, writing, and creating. Also cats, bees, birds, ferns, pine trees, and the moon.

🏡 I was raised in northern NJ and I now reside in Western Maine/Wabanaki Lands in the lakes & mountains region.

🧑‍🎓 I lived & went to college in Philadelphia at UArts (R.I.P.) for illustration & design with a minor in creative writing, and studies in Zen Buddhism, movement, bookmaking + printmaking.

🤷 I once said I'd never work for myself, but here I am - I couldn't not. (I tried interning at some design places but it didn't feel quite right for me.)

📚 I love words & images combined - I started off making zines before making Cycles Journal.

👯 My creations / children are:

📕📖 the annual independent publication Cycles Journal - which changed my life through wholistic cyclical awareness.

(as well as the youth version & undated notebook!)

🎴✨🌿 my in-progress tarot/oracle deck Embodied Ecosystems (launching in late 2024) - a tool for interconnected remembrance and rooted resilience in facing our environmental/climate crisis.

🌷🐝🦋 the endangered pollinator patch series which was a fun self-driven research project turned girl-scout-esque accessory

(as well as other nature-focused apparel and goods for raising awareness with beauty)

🌙🪷 I'm starting to teach what I know through the self-paced Cyclical Mindfulness course - which is here to support mental centering within change,

✍️🍃👁️ I'm starting to share my creative spiritual practice through Custom Channeled Earthen Encouragement Messages.

& I just self-published my first ever poetry booklet; “written on the trees who teach me, forgive me…”

🙏 I'm grateful everyday that I've chosen and been supported on this path.

What else do you want to know about me? 😅

TMI - If you're interested in the details...

I already said enough, but…

I'm the kind of person who searches for the About Me section of any creator's site first, and loves a good long read... with all the juicy details just because.

So this is for those of you out there like that too. :)

My extended list of favorite subjects of study and practice are mindfulness/meditation, mental health, menstrual health, wholistics, ecology + natural sciences, herbalism, astrology, divination/occultism, spirituality, religious intersections, Earth-based lineages, engaged Buddhism/ecoDharma, animism, communicating through words and images, embodiment/somatics, language, history of justice movements + of the marginalized/oppressed, and much more. These all also happen to be what I create and share about most.

My favorite books include Parable of the Sower by Octavia Butler, No Death No Fear by Thích Nhất Hạnh, Circe by Madeline Miller, We Were Made for These Times by Kaira Jewel Lingo, Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer, Pleasure Activism by adrienne maree brown, The Wakeful Body by Lama Willa Blythe-Baker, Lilith's Brood by Octavia & more.

Familial Lineage

I come from a Puerto Rican lineage on my mother's side (by way of Portugal, Spain, the Canaries, Boriken/traditional PR lands, Northern Africa, & Senegal).

On my father's side I come from an Italian, Hungarian and Scottish lineage (by way of those lands as well as nomadic Roma people from various Eastern locations).

I work to honor and not erase my various ancestral lineages and traditions, while also recognizing and fully acknowledging my whiteness & adjacent privilege.

I honor my multitudes and also how I exist in this world with white privilege.

I am committed to being an ally to all who do not have these unjust privileges.

Artistic Lineage

Illustration is the language of communication through visuals.

Design is the language of form, shape and structure to translate meaning and direction.

Both can be radical form of accessible art-making and distribution beyond the hierarchal fine art world.

The history of the printing press, letterpress, and other forms of printmaking and reproduction are interwoven with the history of illustration, design and bookmaking.

They are not devoid of their own sets of problematic people and privilege, just as the fine arts world is not all wealthy and gatekept.

Writing is the language of conveying through sounds, syllables and sentient sentences.

I'm of the belief that creation is a form of channeling, a co-creation with Earth & Spirit.

I used to mostly create in watercolors and ink.

I still love to, but I learned to embrace the bolder shapes, design and combined words + visuals as well to help translate with more clarity, yet allow space for fluidity.

I love to balance the two worlds of open interpretation and intentional messaging.

I remember 2 visceral, pivotal moments:

When my h.s. art teacher pulled me into the hallway and spoke the encouragement I needed to hear to take the leap of faith from settling for a liberal arts degree to pursuing what I really wanted which was to study art & design.
When my figure anatomy teacher sophomore year of college, Paul King, helped me realize that beyond the personal coping, my art had the potential to be a bridge and care for more than just myself. In that class I felt so connected to the beauty of the body and I kept interweaving it until I consciously realized finally that this was about way more than just me... and its rippled even stronger onward from there on. I was able to see my purpose; showing hope and suffering at the same time, without shame but to mend connections.

There are many others along my journey to thank.

My teachers go beyond art & design, and into many other fields of mindfulness, meditation, yoga, environmentalism, poetry and more.

Through community and support, I started to expand through other realms like zine fests and shows really connected me to the communities I wanted to be a part of; on the street activism through accessible artwork to spread messages and hope, and sharing visuals of nature that spark awe and connection before shock.

For my thesis I designed a series of 4 posters almost as tall as me to speak on behalf of environmental concerns.

I was focused on trying to be an editorial illustrator for a while, and I did get to work with some pretty cool publications like the NYTimes twice, and On Being.

I even won an Adobe artist challenge with my environmental artwork that was run by Finnegan Haries. You can find my interview for that here.

Artistic Inspirations

I felt like making a fun list of who's influenced my art along the way:

Visual Artists, Writers & Activists

Luba Lukova
Edel Rodriguez
Pat Perry
Hilma Af Klimt
Rachel Carson
adrienne maree brown
Thich Nhat Hanh
Sophie Strand
Morgan Harper Nichols
Robin Wall Kimmerer
Octavia E Butler
Joanna Macy
Pema Chodron
Kaira Jewel Lingo
Mirella Salamé

General Inspirations

Nature (all elements, forms, sentients, and creatures)
Cycles + patterns
Circles
Fieldguides
Old bookcovers
Books + zines
Radical poster art
Illuminated manuscripts
Hermetic artwork
Sacred geometry
Etching drawings
Written languages
Symbols that span cultures
Sounds
Senses
The Unseen
Shades of green & earthtones
Blood as life not just fear or death
The moon
Woven designs
Wood texture
Kraft paper or handmade paper
Water
Soft things
Birdsong

Spiritual + Healing Lineage

I was raised Roman Catholic, divested after confirming, and it’s been a long agnostic journey.

I’ve explored many religions and spiritualities but I feel most devoted to Tibetan & Engaged Buddhism, and Evolutionary Astrology.

I’ve studied and practiced with various schools of Buddhism including Zen, Vajrayana + Mahayana Tibetan, Insight, and other ecological + Engaged Buddhist practices. Big shout out to Natural Dharma Fellowship & One Earth Sangha for really helping me bridge the gap through Eco Dharma & Deep Ecology!

I've also studied and practiced somatics/somatic experiencing, vajravinyasa yoga, trance journeying, mediumship/spiritism, Usui Reiki, evolutionary astrology, trauma resolution, mental health advocacy, divination, etc.

More recently I’ve been reintegrating to my ancestral lineage through gnostic + folk christianity and syncretized versions of it such as Espiritismo. These Earth-based and for-the-people aspects of the lineage have helped me reconnect in helpful ways deeply.

Although I have a deep and varied spiritual background, I am committed to remaining balanced and rooted in reality and science.

I believe my unique intersection nourishes all that I do and create - as my creative practice and career is an extension of my spirituality & channeling practices. They’re really not separate.