Rachel Constantine Studio

Dear Friends, I am humbled and amazed to share that my painting Self Portrait with a Man has been selected for inclusion in A Nation of Artists, a landmark exhibition opening to the public on April 12th at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (PAFA) in Philadelphia.

This historic collaboration between PAFA and the Philadelphia Museum of Art (PMA) , in partnership with the Middleton Family Collection, unites three extraordinary collections of American art in a once-in-a-lifetime, dual-venue exhibition. Featuring more than 1,000 works - including over 120 rarely seen pieces from the Middleton Family Collection - the exhibition charts America's history from 1700 to the present through paintings, photographs, sculptures, decorative arts, and more. It is the most expansive presentation of American art ever mounted in Philadelphia.

A Nation of Artists runs April 12, 2026 through September 5, 2027 at PAFA (118-128 N. Broad Street, Philadelphia) and through July 5, 2027 at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Visitors are encouraged to experience both venues, each requiring separate admission.

Come Meet Me at PAFA!

I will be at PAFA on opening day - Sunday, April 12th, from 2:00 to 4:00 PM - and would love to see you there. This will be a wonderful opportunity to see all the work in this extraordinary exhibition and to celebrate together.

Please note this is a ticketed event, so tickets and more information are available at pafa.org and ANationofArtists.org.

Looking forward to seeing you very soon in Philadelphia!

With love,

Rachel xx

It is my great pleasure to announce that my portrait of Dr. Jeffrey Carpenter, MD - commissioned by Cooper Hospital’s Department of Surgery- has officially been unveiled! (It’s been quite a busy month!)

It was an honour and my great pleasure to get to know Jeff and to collaborate with him on the elements of his portrait. I found it especially fascinating that he saved the life of a fellow surgeon who also happened to be a sculptor, and whom upon recovery created and gifted to him this hand-carved alabaster aortic valve; an object he treasures and I agreed should absolutely be included. Along with his precious antique surgical glasses, a dearly loved family photo, and one of his most important surgical inventions - one that changed how heart surgery is performed, infinitely for the better.

Dr. Jeffrey Carpenter was Professor and Chairman, Department of Surgery, Cooper Medical School of Rowan University, and Medical Director of the Surgical Services Institute, Vice President, Perioperative Services, Cooper University Health Care in Camden, New Jersey. He has held numerous faculty positions and holds a B.A. from Amherst College, majoring in Chemistry and minoring in Greek (1981), and M.Div. and M.D. degrees from Yale Divinity School (1986). He and his wife have a son and a daughter. Dr. Carpenter has been recognized on numerous occasions for his surgical expertise as a top doctor at the state level in New Jersey and Pennsylvania and a leading doctor in the nation. He is newly retired as of last year, and this portrait will hang at the entrance to the Department of Surgery at Cooper Hospital.

Special thanks to Joseph Lombardi, Annette Reboli and Francis Spitz for facilitating this project, and also to Paula Marques for being the heartbeat behind the scenes of the operation as well as for having exquisite taste in frames! 🖼️ ❤️👏🏼

Painting image:
Portrait of Dr. Jeffrey Carpenter, MD
Oil on linen
36x24”
2025

The drawing wall going up…So much to see, can’t wait to have you!! 🥰
Special shout out to for being such a STAR! 🌟 🫶🏼🥰❤️
🖼️
Open Studio Philly
August 16th, 12~6pm
1627 N 2nd St, 19122

All are welcome!🤗 🫶🏼🤗

More recent work… when I first moved into my little Alpha Rd studio in Cambridge, I was a little shocked at how dark the winters were there. With daylight saving time came sunsets at 3pm; and for a painter who is a slave to natural light, that was QUITE an adjustment…but that just made the transition back to longer days even more exhilarating. My studio view looks out onto Carlisle Rd, at the end of which is the largest, most glorious magnolia tree 🌳 that explodes with a million blooms just when one can’t bear one more day of winter. Painting these flowers has been become my homage to spring these last two years, although they change at lightening speed so you have to paint REALLY fast… this one made it just long enough to capture properly.
I finally met the neighbor who is the keeper of this tree, and she’s become a wonderful friend. 🤗

Magnolia in Antique Glass
Oil on panel
19x8
*available

Rachel Constantine Open Studio
Philadelphia
August 16, 2025
12-6pm
🫶🏼
❤️
🫶🏼

Hello again. Reacquainting myself with this social media thing in these particularly intense times…

I painted this image while adjusting to a new studio in a new country … and as the petals began to fall, unexpectedly, from the rose I had strung upside down inside of my still life box, all the emotions followed. I longed for the familiarity and support of those back home, and was reminded of the importance of living in this very moment, for this is, indeed, all so transient, and we should all do our best to embrace the moments of beauty and tranquility that we are so privileged to experience. This painting attempts to honour that.

“Evanesce”
Oil on panel
12x9
🌹
Available at my open studio, August 16, Philadelphia
🫶🏼

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📣 OPEN STUDIO — YOU’RE INVITED! 🎨
Come visit Rachel Constantine’s Philadelphia Studio for an afternoon of painting, conversation, and behind-the-scenes access.

📍 1627 N. 2nd Street, Philadelphia, PA 19123
📅 Saturday, August 16, 2025
🕛 12 PM – 6 PM

🖼️ Explore new work, including large-scale commissions in progress.
✨ Ask questions, see the studio, and enjoy the creative atmosphere!

🔹 Private appointments available August 17–18
🔹 Virtual walkthroughs via FaceTime/Zoom also offered

Can’t wait to see you!!

Image:
Composition with Nasturtium
Oil on panel
11x10
Available!
🌸🌼🌸

Warming up the Philadelphia studio for my first open studio in 2 years! Save the date!!Yo🫶🏼❤️🙌🏻🎉
Rachel Constantine Studio Philly
1627 N 2nd St, Studio 310
August 16th, 12-6pm
🎨
Can’t wait to see everyone.
❤️❤️❤️

I am delighted to announce that my portrait of Richard Prager, former head of the Engineering Department of Cambridge University (2018-2023), has officially been unveiled!

One thing I particularly love about portraiture is the opportunity to step into the subject’s world and weave that into a portrait, and it was a pleasure to get to know Richard, whom I came to discover is truly as kind as he is brilliant. As you can see, instead of inside an office, Richard wanted to be out on Coe’s Fen and include the sky, meadow, and most importantly the Engineering Department where he has dedicated so much of his career and focus. I loved that he would often be found wandering out the backs and thinking, and thought this to be the perfect image through which to depict him.

Turns out that Richard is also particularly adept at dodging cows- a very useful skill as I kept asking him to don his good suit and meet out in the meadow for “just one more session”… surrounded by particularly curious cattle. Luckily he was spared having to model outside in the, shall we say “soggy” Coe-fen, (actually completely mud ridden) and instead we were able to do our color study in my conservatory while Richard held a big piece of green construction paper under his chin.

It is humbling to know that the finished painting now lives alongside two centuries of historical portraits, of the previous Engineering Department heads, in one of the oldest and most respected universities in the world.

Thank you Richard, and thank you Cambridge Engineering. It’s been a pleasure. 💛🎨🖼️

STARLINGS IN WINTER (EXCERPT)

Ah, world, what lessons you prepare for us,
even in the leafless winter,
even in the ashy city.
I am thinking now
of grief, and of getting past it;
I feel my boots
trying to leave the ground,
I feel my heart
pumping hard. I want
to think again of dangerous and noble things.
I want to be light and frolicsome.
I want to be improbable beautiful and afraid of nothing,
as though I had wings

-Mary Oliver

💔🇺🇸

Image:
Monument
Oil on linen
2012ish?

Felt fitting. 💔🇺🇸