What Rachel is Loving Lately
Here in Rachel Recommends, you’ll find everything from books and music to favorite household finds and simple things that have made life a little more helpful, beautiful, or enjoyable.
Explore her recommendations below, beginning with the most recent.
3.12.2026
The Art of Still Life Painting
I'm working on adding to our series of floral still life art prints and I am loving this book I check out from the library. Casey is an oil painter and I'm making drawings for risograph prints but there is so much valuable info in this book that applies no matter what medium you are using. I love how he talks about telling a story with the objects you include and how you arrange them and how he explores the seven principles of design (balance, contrast, emphasis, movement, pattern, rhythm, and unity/variety) and how they apply to this storied art form. There are lots of practical tips as well. Let me know if you are making still life paintings or drawings, I'd love to see what you're working on!
Chicken Wire
I know, everyone knows what chicken wire is. But hear me out: improving my floral arranging skills has always been a goal of mine, as my home efforts often fell flat. Before our Noted trade show in New York this past February, I did some research to prepare to arrange flowers in my handmade paper maché vases for our booth. My favorite takeaway from all the podcasts and courses and books I check out? Using a ball of chicken wire inside the vessel. It makes a big difference in how much control you have over the shape of your arrangement. You can reuse the wire so you only have to put in the effort once per vessel and your arrangements will look so fancy! If you want more tips, this Skillshare course is my favorite of the resources I found.
3.3.2026
Blackwing Pencils
I used to get annoyed seeing artists post photos of themselves using these fancy, expensive pencils. I thought it was just posturing but then I tried them. They are actually so great, the lead is the perfect softness (white for lighter lines, black for heavy) and they are strong and sharpen easily and hold a point well. Worth it!
Stop Making Sense
When it is all too much, I put on this concert filmed in 1983 and just let David Byrne say what needs to be said. I first saw it in college and it has been a touchpoint, a source of inspiration and a comfort to me ever since. The big suit! Tina Weymouth on base! The dancers! The lamp! This is the art version of grownups doing what needs to be done and saying it like it is. The link above is the free version on youtube, here's a link to a remastered version you can pay for if you want to. "Fa-fa-fa-fa, fa-fa-fa-fa-fa, fa, better run, run, run, run, run, run, run away...aye-ya-ya-ya-ya...."
Letters from an American
Heather Cox Richardson is an American history professor at Boston University and every day she posts an open letter on her substack connecting the day's headlines to the long arc of American history. When I feel overwhelmed by the chaos of our current political landscape, Richardson's posts make me feel, if not better about it all, at least grounded in the notion that there are still some grownup out there who have done their homework and are paying attention (and keeping score).
2.23.26
Making Things: Finding Use, Meaning, and Satisfaction in Crafting Everyday Objects by Erin Boyle, Rose Pearlman
I love this how-to manual for how to make all kinds of useful and beautiful objects. It is so easy to buy things, but so satisfying to make them and I love the casual, lived-in approach these ladies have to tackling a handmade, sustainable version of many of the everyday objects that are so easy to take for granted.
Fried shallots
Is it too random to recommend a single ingredient? These are so good as a topping on anything from soup to salad to pasta, I've even put them in sammies or wraps for extra crunch. You don't need more than a tablespoon or two so they don't add a ton of calories or sodium but they have so much flavor and can make something otherwise boring into a satisfying meal.
2.18.26
Basics of Sashiko
Sashiko is a Japanese tradition of stitching with thick cotton thread in a pattern of decorative stitches to adorn or repair fabric items like clothing. Athena and I are both trying it - you can too! This video is a short and sweet intro to the basic materials and techniques. Sashiko strikes a lovely balance between creative and rote - I stitched new shoulder straps for a pair of overalls while I was on the airplane home from NY and it was soothing and satisfying to use my hands to make something pretty and useful without having to think too hard about it.
1.26.26
Like a Rolling Stone
I know everyone already knows this song but when was the last time you really listened to it? I was in the garment district on our last day in New York at the fabulously expensive but meticulously labeled and organized B&J fabrics, running my hands through the racks of gorgeous silks and velvets. One of the well-tailored gentleman who had clearly worked there for a thousand years was putting things away and singing along with choice lines in a perfect Bob D voice, "When you ain't got nothing, you got nothing to LOSE/You're invisible now, you've got no secrets to CONCEAAAAAAL, how does it FEEL." So good!
1.19.26
Five Calls App
This app makes it easy to call your elected reps. It gives you a list of issues; you click on one and it opens up to a page with a script you can read and a phone number you can click on to call. If you call in the evening or on the weekend, you won't even have to talk to anyone; you'll leave a voicemail and your opinion will go on record.
1.8.26
Professional Creative Podcast Episode 182
Bonnie Christine was my teacher when I first learned how to make repeating patterns but she is just as knowledgeable on the subject of running a business and achieving goals as she is on the topic of building repeats in Illustrator. I liked the succinct method she describes in this episode for doing an annual reflection and strategy session: ask yourself what worked in the previous year, what didn't work, and what learning and goals till you'll take into the year ahead. It's a more manageable framework for a group to do together, in a team meeting or a family huddle before you plunge back into the fray of daily schedules and to do's.
1.1.26
Neck mobility drill with Dr. Mandell
We all spend a lot of time looking down and doing the exercises in this video has helped me with soreness and knots and even some weird twitching that I was having after hours of drawing and working on the computer.
Your Best Year Yet
The first time I answered the questions in this book was February of 2016 so this year will be ten years of using this framework to evaluate and plan for the year ahead. There are lots of different versions of this but I think taking some time here and there (some years I do this more often, every six months or quarterly, some years it takes me longer to get back to it) really helps to keep things moving in the direction you actually want to go in both in business, creatively and in life in general.
Make an illustrated more/less list a la Julia Rothman
I first heard of this practice from my friend Karen of Pier Six Press when we met up for our annual New Year's hang with our kids at an indoor playground halfway between our PNW towns and she was working on hers. The illustrator Julia Rothman wrote about it in this 2021 NY Times article and it has become a favorite practice for our whole family. It's a way to tap in to the opportunity to reflect and identify changes you might want to make without the hard win/lose polarity of New Year's Resolutions. If it seems intimidating to start from scratch there is even a journal now that Julia created to help you get started.