Creativity Over Coffee: Rachel Pereira (Shades of Blue Interiors)

Welcome to the 1st Creativity Over Coffee ever!  I told you a little about this series last week.  For this series, I’ll be chatting with my creative friends – bloggers, writers, artists, photographers, stylists and get their ideas on creativity and the creative process.

I’ve always been inspired to hear about people’s paths, especially people I look up to, how their life’s journey has taken them down winding paths and how they ended up where they are today.  When I had just graduated from film school in London and couldn’t find work, I found inspiration through the many biographies I read from the library.  I used to go there each week and take out more.

Many people believe they are not creative.  I hear this all the time.  It is my hope with these conversations with my friends that I hope to inspire you, dear reader, so you will understand that you are truly creative. That creativity is just sitting inside of you waiting to bubble over.

Today, I’m chatting with my dear friend Rachel, you may already know her from her beautiful and inspiring blog: Shades of Blue Interiors.  Rachel and I have been friends for a long time and we finally met last year at Haven.  She is an artist, a mother, a wife, a blogger, a furniture painter and a super friend.  I’ve read her blog from the beginning am always inspired by her talent, her energy and her humor.  So grab your coffee (or tea) and get ready to be inspired.

Here’s our conversation:

Rachel, Thank you so much for deciding to join me for coffee and chat about your creative process.  Can you tell us a little about yourself and your creative journey?

Rachel:I come from a large family where I was born and raised in Juneau, Alaska– a beautiful place any time of the year but only bearable in the summer… 😉 My mother is an artist and encouraged creativity in each of my siblings and I from as early as we were able to hold a pencil or paint brush. I was blessed to have some extra educational opportunities as an artist from early on, and it has shaped who I am. There was a big chunk of my life that I was ashamed of my artistic side, because I wanted to be identified as more than just “good at art”. So I stopped telling anyone about that big part of who I was or doing anything outside of what was required. I felt torn inside because I loved all forms of art and how I felt when I was creating, but I wanted to be accepted as ‘normal’. I didn’t want the high expectations from peers or adults. Then I became adult. I moved away from home, given a new opportunity to be anyone I wanted to be. And I still chose to publicly suppress my creative side, for the most part. Only my close friends family knew my ‘secret’ and it wasn’t until just a couple years ago– after I was married, had 3 small children and felt part of me was getting lost in the busy-ness of motherhood– that I found the most satisfying avenue for my creativity: Shades of Blue Interiors blog. Since starting my blog I have been able to build close friendships and support groups, and challenge myself creatively in so many ways– from refinishing furniture, sewing and home decor, photography, writing, design, and more.

Spring Home Tour

When do you feel most creative or happy?

Rachel: It’s kinda funny because I haven’t thought about this particular question before you asked me. I think I feel most creative in moments that are spurred by a combination of coming back from some time spent outdoors– breathing in the beauty of nature, noticing the details in God’s creations– and having a request or deadline I have to work toward. Unlike a lot of people I have talked to, deadlines are good for me. They force me to make it a priority and if I don’t procrastinate, then something special can be created. I am most happy when I can use my creativity to make someone else happy. That mix of stretching myself– challenging myself– and the result is loved and appreciated… there isn’t much that makes me happier. These same characteristics are what make motherhood so satisfying as well… only the payment is my favorite in the form of little hugs, smiling eyes, and wet kisses.

Pink Floral Dresser

How did you start painting furniture?  

Rachel: I started painting furniture in 2011 for myself, then started selling my creations in 2012, the same year I started my blog. I started because I decided I could take control of how my home looked and how I felt in it, despite a very small budget, being a family of 5, and being not long out of college. I thrived on that feeling of making a space I loved and one that my family enjoyed spending time in. Change is empowering and it has fueled me through many difficult moments, as well as blissful ones!

Do you have a favorite finish or colors for furniture?

Rachel: My favorite color on a piece of furniture is probably a tie between Duck Egg and Aubusson (ASCP), with maybe dark wax. However, I don’t have any of those finishes in my home! I gravitate to more neutral colors of furniture in my home, with my favorite being French Linen. I love the warmth of that gray and I especially love how it looks when dry brushed and dark waxed.

Rachel’s favorite finish

Most people don’t know you studied art.  How has that helped you now?

Rachel: My art background has become ingrained in how I view my world– it’s my rose-colored glasses. I am always asking myself why something is beautiful or is eye-pleasing, and the principles I learned from my art education has helped me analyze the why and apply it in my own creations. Shapes and lines, color theory, balance, unity, subject matter, contrast, pattern, proportion… all are tools I use to see something I like or am inspired by, and create my version. When studying art, you also learn from the greatest artists of all time and learn several different techniques… you very simply copy them to the best of your ability, in order to learn that technique. Then, once you learn different techniques, you have the confidence to create something that is a little different than anyone else. In the furniture refinishing world, many people think that they need to recreate someone else’s work to be successful. But, while recreating someone’s work is a valuable lesson, real success comes in creating something a little bit different… a little more creative… a little more ‘you’. 😉

End Table Tutorial

Is there one project that you really love and you’re really proud of that you’ve done?

Rachel: Right now I’m really into building– so I’m most proud of a vanity I recently built and finished. Only I haven’t posted about it yet, so my other project that I’m most proud of and I love so much, is my green painted sofa. I didn’t think it was going to turn out as good as it did. My plan before I finished was to keep it in storage unless I was renting it out for photography prop rental; however, it ended up looking amazing and with use got softer and softer! It doesn’t cease to amaze me that fabric can be painted and it CAN look and feel amazing.

Green Sofa Reveal * Painted Fabric Tutorial

Who or What inspires you?

Rachel: I get inspiration from all over. Being outside and going on family vacations always makes me look and think outside my views; however, I also find inspiratio in design magazines, art galleries and museums, and of course other blogs. When I first started painting furniture and blogging, my biggest inspirations were Miss Mustard Seed and Perfectly Imperfect. However, their blogs have changed and my blog goals have changed, so right now my biggest blog inspirations happen to be several of my friends. I would list them off but I would feel bad if I left someone out. Basically if we are friends, you inspire me!

Spring Home Tour

Do you ever get in a funk?  If so, how do you get out of it?

Rachel: Yes. More than you would expect haha! Deadlines help… Refreshing myself with some quality time with my family… and really just working through it. Sometimes and often, inspiration strikes when I’m going through the motions and just putting in the hard, mundane work.

What is your favorite color?  Is there any color you don’t LOVE?

Rachel: Easy: Blue. And yes I hate the color purple, expect when it comes to flowers or sunsets.

What advice would you give to someone who is interested painting furniture or becoming more creative?

Rachel: Start. Don’t procrastinate or worry or overthink it. Get the basic materials and just start. The rest comes through the process– learning what works and what doesn’t, what you love what you don’t.

Growing up I was a huge follower of INSIDE THE ACTORS STUDIO.  At the end of the program, they would ask the interviewee these questions:

1. What is your favorite word?  Saudades. It is a Portuguese word and it is hard to translate exactly, but it loosely means longing or missing something. It reminds me of family and food and sweet memories of time spent in Brazil. I love the way it sounds when spoken as well… it’s not Spanish, so don’t try to pronounce it like you would a Spanish word. Find a Brazilian to say it for you. 🙂
2. What is your least favorite word? Supple or nipple. I hate both of those equally.
3. What turns you on creatively, spiritually or emotionally? Hard physical work– on something I can see my difference being made. It is the one thing that turns me on for all three of those.
4. What turns you off? Complaining.
5. What is your favorite curse word? haha! Shit.
6. What sound or noise do you love? Soft inhale and exhale of my sleeping babies (okay, okay they aren’t really babies anymore… 9, 6, and 4.. but they are still MY babies).
7. What sound or noise do you hate? Fingernails or really anything scratching on a chalkboard or the underside of tile and hardybacker.
8. What profession other than your own would you like to attempt? Social worker.
9. What profession would you not like to do? Anything with requiring data entry or lots of tedious computer work dealing with numbers.
10. If Heaven exists, what would you like to hear God say when you arrive at the Pearly Gates? Welcome home.

Thank you, Rachel, for sharing all these insights with me and my readers.  If you’d like to keep in touch with Rachel, here’s how:

Shades of Blue Interiors Blog * Instagram * Facebook

Join us again soon for more Creativity Over Coffee.