RACHEL ROTHBERG
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Invocation (1/7)

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The narrow bud opens her beauties to the sun (2/7)

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Answer July (3/7)

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Hot sun, cool fire (4/7)

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Ah, Sun-flower! (5/7)

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Adieu, farewell earth's bliss (6/7)

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Ring out, wild bells (7/7)

Passing of the Year Series

Acrylic on canvas, 2019

​These seven paintings represent the text of seven poems by the poets William Blake, Emily Dickinson, Thomas Nashe, and Alfred Lord Tennyson, as well as the music from Johnathan Dove's contemporary choral piece "The Passing of the Year," composed for a double chorus and piano in 2000.  Western Washington University's Concert Choir performed this piece in the 2019 Spring Choir Concert under the direction of Dr. Leslie Guelker-Cone.

Available for purchase: Invocation; Answer July; Hot sun, cool fire; Ring out, wild bells

Nature's Details: Experimental Painting Series

Oil on Paper and Canvas, 2020
​These works were created during an experimental painting course using a maquette for reference.

These pieces are available for purchase.


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​Resilience

Acrylic on Canvas, 2018

A New York Times article titled "Shorebirds, the World's Greatest Travelers, Face Extinction" written by the director of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, John Fitzpatrick, inspired this piece.  These far-traveling birds are remarkable in their ability to travel distances spanning across the globe in a matter of days.  Their decline is devastating and demands our attention because humans, too, depend upon shorelines and bodies of water that are in danger due to the systemic illness of urbanization.

Fitzpatrick writes: "The global collapse of migratory shorebird populations is much more than a calamity facing a group of exquisitely evolved birds.  It also tells us that our global network of aquatic systems is fraying.  If water is the world’s lifeblood and aquatic systems are its connective tissue, then the decline of the planet’s most spectacular global travelers signals a systemic illness that demands our attention and action."

The painting includes the following threatened or endangered shorebirds: Australian Painted-snipe, Far Eastern Curlew, Bar-tailed Godwit, Spoon-billed Sandpiper, Wood Snipe, Piping Plover, Spotted Greenshank, Sociable Lapwing, Great Knot

​www.nytimes.com/interactive/2018/04/27/opinion/shorebirds-extinction-climate-change.html

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Contamination

Acrylic and Trash on Wood Panel, 2015

Humans pose a huge threat to many species, yet we continue the same trends of self indulgence at a high cost.​  
Pollution and pesticides wipe out 67 million birds in the US every year.  Although this only accounts for 7.1% of the manmade causes of avian death, it leaves a huge dent in populations.  Pollution is a byproduct of our convenience, and it is impossible to sustain species at this rate—they are at our mercy.
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Rhymes with Purple

Oil on Canvas, 2015
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Beecause of Death

Acrylic on Canvas, 2015

​Bees are integral to the success of our own species, yet we continue our unsustainable trends that are leading to their demise.  There is an interdependence between all things, living and dead
—in short, humans will not survive without bees.
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Ephemeral

Acrylic on Canvas, 2015​

Life is fleeting, but still manages to arise from anywhere it can.
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Red-Winged Fairy-Wrens

Acrylic on Wood Panels, 2017
These pieces are available for purchase.
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Yin-Yang Owls

Watercolor on Paper, 2015
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Green Heron

Watercolor on Paper, 2015
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Look Up More

Oil on Canvas Panel, 2015
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Blue-Winged Kookaburra

Acrylic on Paper, 2017

Weather Phenomena

Acrylic on Canvas, 2018

​ Pieces painted to match weather phenomena, set to an Estonian choral piece about the seasons under the direction of Professor Tim Fitzpatrick.

These pieces are available for purchase.
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Rufous Hummingbirds

Acrylic on Canvas, 2014
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​Don't Squish Bugs

Watercolor on Paper, 2016

​As humans, it is important to know the impact we have on the environment.  Even the smallest of things is connected to us;
there is a network between every living thing.
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How Would You Feel?

Acrylic on Wood Panel, 2016

Our society functions off of plastic, and it is filling the planet with no projected end.  Plastic is especially out of place in our oceans, where it can replace half of an organism’s food source.  Sea turtles are one of these victims.  If
--like the turtles--your plate was full of trash, how would you feel?  As humans, we are responsible for the destruction we have caused, because it affects our world too.  Change is necessary.
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Balance

Gouache on Paper, 2016
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Symbiosis

Acrylic on Canvas Panel, 2016
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Gaia

Acrylic on Panel, 2016
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Burial

Mixed Media on Canvas Panel, 2016
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Acrylic and Gold Paint on Paper, 2016
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Watercolor on Paper, 2016
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Acrylic on Fabric, 2016
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Acrylic and Gold Paint on Paper, 2016
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Ghosts

Watercolor and Pen on Paper, 2016
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High Fructose

Acrylic on Panel, 2016
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Horsetail Falls, Yosemite

Watercolor on Paper, 2016
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North Cascades

Watercolor on Paper, 2016
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Elimination

Watercolor on Paper, 2016

This piece (​Elimination) responds to the concerns I have about the environment after the election, because it is an issue we are all responsible for as humans, regardless of political beliefs.  The birds in this painting are dead Bleeding Heart Doves, a species of pigeon that naturally has a red breast.  Doves have been regarded throughout history as a symbol of peace and hope, but their death in my piece signifies the lack of hope and the fear I now have in not only our government but the American people in upholding essential environmental policies.  We, as a species, need to not only be aware of our effect on the planet, but consider the fragile balance between life and death in our everyday lives.  Like Sir David Attenborough said, humans should “cherish the natural world, because you’re a part of it and you depend upon it.”  Although the recent election has diminished the hope many have for conservation efforts, it is still important for every one of us to be aware of our environmental impact.
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