Rachael Grimm grew up in the northwest of England and moved to the U.S. in 1996. She trained at the Art Students League in New York from 1996-2000, specializing in figure painting in oil.
Rachael is an award-winning watercolorist. Her work has been displayed in numerous fine art publications including Watercolor Artist and The Best of Watercolor magazines. One of her charcoals has been selected as a finalist in Strokes of Genius 16: the Best of Drawing Art Competition. Her paintings are featured in an 8 page article and on the cover of the December issue of Watercolor Artist Magazine 2020 . Her work was selected twice for the Sunday Times Watercolor Competition, the largest and most prestigious watercolor competition in the U.K. In 2015 one of her landscapes was chosen for the annual Allied Artists of America show at the Salmagundi Club in New York, where she won the Kent Day Coes Memorial Award for Watercolor.
In addition to watercolor, Rachael loves to use charcoal. Sketching from life has always been a very important part of her practice. She attends life-drawing sessions at the Spring Street Studio in New York and sketches and paints outdoors regularly.
In her watercolors and sketches, Rachael is often most inspired to depict simple, everyday things. She feels that the most commonplace things in life are often the most beautiful and timeless.
Rachael lives in Westchester County in New York, with her husband, Stephen, and their three children. She considers herself extremely lucky to live on the beautiful coast of the Long Island Sound where there are endless things to paint. She travels frequently with her family and often paints on location. She particularly loves to visit and paint her native England where the sky is ever changing and the countryside is very close to her heart.
Her paintings are in numerous private collections both in the U.S. and overseas. One of her portraits is permanently installed in the main library at Fordham University, and her three commissioned watercolors of Clare Hall, the University of Cambridge, are on display at Clare Hall and are part of the college’s art collection.
Click here to see an interview with Rachael about her work
Selection of Awards, Press, and Exhibitions
Winter 2025 – Strokes of Genius 16: the Best of Drawing Art Competition. ‘Early Autumn Border’ selected as a finalist. Magazine will be on newsstands in November 2024
Summer 2024 – Artist Magazine – Splash 25 – The Best of Watercolor Art Competition. ‘Sunday Morning’ selected as an Honorable Mention winner; ‘Interior with Tess’ selected as a finalist
Summer 2024 – Watercolor Artist Magazine – one of 11 finalists from Splash 25 : The Best Of Watercolor Art Competition selected for a feature on the use of light in watercolor
2024 – ‘Sunday Morning’ selected for the National Watercolor Society/Royal Scottish Society of Painters in Watercolor 2024 Exchange Exhibition – Royal Scottish Academy Building, Edinburgh, Scotland – NWS-RSW ‘Exchange Award’
2023 – ‘Orange Bowl’ selected for Allied Artists of America 110th Annual Exhibition – online – September 2023-September 2024
2022 – Fine Art Award, Larchmont Art Festival, NY
2022 – November edition of Leisure Painter Magazine – part 2
2022 – October edition of Leisure Painter Magazine – part 1
2022 – January edition of Leisure Painter Magazine – 4 page article
2021 – Blick Art Materials award for ‘Bridge Street, City Island’ – North East Watercolor Society 2021 International Exhibition, Kent, Connecticut
2021- ‘Early Evening, Block Island’ selected for the Hudson Valley Art Association’s 88th annual exhibition, Old Lyme, Connecticut
2020-2021 – ‘Bridge Street, City Island, The Bronx’ selected for the Sunday Times Watercolor Competition 2020. Mall Galleries in London. (Due to Covid 19, exhibition was online only)
2020 – December issue of Watercolor Artist Magazine 2020 – cover and 8 page feature
2020-2021 – ‘Early Evening, Block Island’ selected for the Allied Artists of America 107th Annual Juried Exhibition.
2020 – ‘Marshlands Conservancy, Rye’ selected for the Hudson Valley Art Association’s 87th annual exhibition, Old Lyme Connecticut
2020 – ‘Early Evening, Block Island’ selected for the Member’s Exhibition, National Watercolor Society, San Pedro, California (exhibition online))
2020 – ‘Winter Sky’ and ‘Marshlands Conservancy, Rye’, selected for the New Members Exhibition, Silvermine Art Center, New Canaan, Connecticut
2019 – ‘The Beach is Closed’ selected for the 106th Allied Artists of America Annual Juried Exhibition, Salmagundi Club, New York
2019 – ‘Winter Flowers, Charcoal’ selected for the Hudson Valley Art Association’s 86th annual exhibition, Old Lyme, Connecticut
2019 – ‘Forest Park Avenue in Snow’ selected for the American Watercolor Society’s 152nd Annual International Exhibition, Salmagundi Club, New York
2019 – ‘The Beach is Closed’ selected for the National Watercolor Society’s annual member’s show in San Pedro, California
2018 – ‘Resting in Boboli Gardens, Florence’ selected for North East Watercolor Society 2018 International Exhibition, Kent, Connecticut
2017 – ‘King’s Parade’ selected for the Sunday Times Watercolour Competition, Mall Galleries, London
2015 – Allied Artists of America Annual Exhibition, New York. Kent Day Coes Memorial Award for Watercolor for painting ‘Late Afternoon at the Beach’