Photography by Amani Sodiq.
“Breathe in.”
“Paint a thin line.”
“Breathe out, push your brush down and paint your breath around the page.”
“There is no messing up, it’s already a mess.”
You could hear these phrases in one of Lake Highlands neighbor Rachel Larlee’s art classes at The Village, where mindfulness and the power of play are equally important in the process of creating art.
Rachel Larlee has a bachelor’s degree in psychology. While in college, Larlee was diagnosed with dyslexia, changing her career trajectory from psychology to education.
“I always knew that it would take me twice, if not three times, as long to do something that my friends just do really quickly,” Larlee says. “Before I went to university, I had a year out and went to Albania and worked in a children’s orphanage for that year. I’ve always loved working with children.”
Larlee began teacher training at Oxford, where she met her husband. She taught for a few years in a village outside of Oxford, using the creativity from her love for art to fill the classroom, partnered with her background in psychology.
Eventually, Larlee taught at a preschool in London, later becoming head of the school. On school breaks, Larlee kept her creativity alive with embroidery, often stitching pillows and making gifts for friends’ nurseries and Christmas presents.
In 2014, Larlee’s husband’s pastoral work led them to Dallas. Larlee started selling freestyle embroidery pieces on social media and at pop-up events.
Then, as so many stories go, the pandemic happened. And Larlee was unable to go home to see her family in the U.K.
“Creativity has always been like a reset for me. I am an introvert, and having three children and an extrovert husband, I needed those moments of reset: of going in and creating,” Larlee says.
After doing an online watercolor painting class, Larlee “fell in love with watercolors” and using the art style in a “play-based way.”
Soon, the Larlee home was “bursting at the seams” with her artwork, which she worked on in her free time after teaching preschool in Lakewood. While looking for a solution to storing the art before selling, Larlee and her son took a walk around The Village.
The pair entered Linger, then a store selling artisan products, to pitch selling some of her artwork. Serendipitously, a woman in charge of The Village’s rental properties was in the store, and told her of the then-new studio spaces that would be available in the newer part of The Village’s shops.
Larlee opened her shop, teaching lessons on the side and using the space to create.
Her classes aren’t just about art. Her psychology and education backgrounds bring mindfulness exercises into the mix.
“Embroidery, particularly, is such a beautifully mindful process because you’re focusing on every little stitch and you get better,” Larlee says.
To further incorporate mindfulness, Larlee set up a journaling bar with different pens, watercolors, collage material and prompts that focus on mindfulness, intentionality and self-reflection.
“We all know gratitude changes the brain chemistry,” Larlee says. “Journaling and embroidery and more open-ended projects that people can do are great for parents and children to do together. They’re really lovely.”
This summer, Larlee will host several camps for teens and preteens on top of her open houses on Saturdays. From July 16-18, a Canvas and Soul camp for ages 8-14 will take a “journey through the lives and works of Matisse and Kahlo.” From July 23-25, a Whimsical Woodlands camp will be centered around cottage core and nature for ages 6-12. Both camps are $260 each.
Focusing on the power of play, Larlee will also host a Pre-Teens’ Unplugged and Teens’ Unplugged camp for $295. The camps will include hands-on BBQ lessons from Larlee’s husband, pickleball lessons at The Sandy Pickle, nine square and creative art adventures.
“Our teens don’t know how to interact with each other if they don’t have a phone in their hand,” Larlee says. “We’ll be doing some journaling and mindfulness along the way.”
