Rachel Rush could not be happier with a brush in hand. Art that draws you in with agonising detail, the bold colour of her graffiti-style art, RUSH Graffiti, blends vibrant acrylic overlayed with resin and dotted with pop culture, street-style stencils, and collage. Rush spends hours in her home studio, in a house built for a family. Together with her husband, business partner, and their three adult children, this custom-built industrial-style home is intended to be the family's forever dwelling. A juxtaposition of exposed concrete, glass, and steel with elegant furnishing brought to life with pops of vibrant colour. Designed by the couple, who wanted the spaces to reflect a gallery to accommodate Rush’s large artworks. Here, she shares her career, home, and passion for art, which evolves over hours of detailed work, a craft without rules that reflect her beautiful works' unique vibrancy and energy.

Career

When and how did your interest in art begin?

I have always been interested in art, probably right from Primary School. I would sit down in my spare time and draw pictures from my favourite books, then colour them and make them as accurate as possible. My first job out of high school was at Kozmik Design, hand painting fluorescent clothing from a fabulous little studio down in Devonport. I loved it; it set the scene for an environment I enjoyed working in. It was relatively short-lived, and then, I worked for ten years in a family business, which was wonderful but not a career for me. While there, I was still painting, primarily landscapes in oil, and owned a kiln making ceramics and selling my work at markets. Then we started our family, and once our children went to school, my art began to grow organically, becoming bigger and bigger so I could take up the opportunities ahead of me.

At what age did you consider art as a career, and how did you start out/where did you study?

I remember the career booklets the teachers would hand out at school. I would read through, dreaming about ticking the boxes for jewellery design, makeup artistry, interior design, or anything like that, then sigh, turn a few pages and tick accountancy and economics. My lovely dad always believed you’d never make money from art, so do something safe and paint on the side. I went for the job at Kozmik, pretending it was part-time, but Mum and Dad were fully supportive when I got it, but possibly relieved when I ended up in the family business. I am self-taught and have painted many different genres, which is probably the hard way to go about it all. Still, I wear it as a badge of pride for being self-taught, whereas some areas of the art world may look unfavourably that I wasn’t trained somewhere fabulous. My art career started when my husband opened a bank account for me. He said if I ran out of money and had a pile of unsold paintings sitting around, I had to think of something else I wanted to do - fast forward to today, and I still don’t officially own any of my work.

Who or what is your most significant influence?

My work has evolved and changed dramatically over the years until it came to the stage I’m at now with my two completely separate styles of work - my RUSH Graffiti and my Rachel Rush abstracts. An early influence for me, particularly on the abstract side, was Virginia Leonard’s early works on canvas. I loved her use of colour and her confidence in her work. The graffiti came through at the same time. I love getting lost in the dirty old alleyways in Melbourne or New York; I find the spray paint an electric medium, and I love that when you return a year later, it’s all completely different and reworked.

Rush in her studio, her hallway and stairs to the upper level of their home.

What is your career high, and what do you still want to achieve?

In February 2024, my art took over SO Auckland Hotel from top to bottom. We had the Vault downstairs set as a four-day solo exhibition and a two-night opening where we launched my Signature Series works up in the fabulous Hi-So bar on the SO rooftop, plus other pieces liberally scattered throughout the hotel. From this event, my dedicated gallery SO/Gallery was born in partnership with Cary from Flagstaff Gallery in Devonport, which has been incredible, and I love every minute of it. It’s open on Thursday and Friday and by appointment with Arnie, our fabulous gallery manager, my husband Graham or myself. We all love these private viewings; they are a lovely way to discuss the various pieces available. We also host an event every month, tapping into the brilliance of director of food and beverage Roy Giam and communications extraordinaire Ava Wardecki from SO Hotel. Also, being accepted into International Art Fairs was another massive highlight; we exhibit every year in Sydney, Melbourne, and now Singapore, which are all incredible markets for my work, so on the still-to-achieve list is more world domination and strengthening my markets there and further afield.

Being an artist is a solo career; how do you stay motivated?

I’m just a very determined and driven person. I hate saying no to opportunities, and since they keep coming, I keep staying motivated. Every piece I create has to be better than the last, and I never put a work out for sale that I don’t 100 per cent love. I love what I do, the gallerists I work with, and the fantastic people I sell to, so it’s not hard.

Where do you get your inspiration?

I once read a saying: “Inspiration will find you, but it has to find you working.” I believe this is true. The more I work, the faster my ideas come through.

What is your favourite medium to work with?

Resin. I love the multitude of ways of working with it. We’ve been best friends for about 17 years now, so the opportunity for fun with it is endless. I love how it makes every colour pop, how I can make it translucent or opaque, and how it dramatically changes the graffiti. My second favourite is spray paint. The colour range is phenomenal, and they are so much fun, even though they can be pretty grimy to work with. You know you’ve worked a big day after spraying in a hideous face-covering mask.

Rush in her Auckland, North Shore home, each room is accented by vibrant colour.

What is your favourite time of the day to work?

I love an early start on days with huge deadlines; it can achieve big things.

What's your favourite work, and do you still own it?

As mentioned above, I don’t officially own any of my work. Some pieces break your heart when they leave, but that’s my challenge to create something I love even more. Although I currently have a beautiful big pink Signature mirror in my lounge that throws all the colours around the space when the sun sets, I haven’t been able to quite put that out of the studio yet.

What are you currently working on?

I was working on a new series of signature pieces for RUSH. They were created with a metal-printed background wallpaper and framed to make them epic statement pieces. I have a few commission works to finish, and I am planning for Art Fairs in 2025.

Rush’s open plan dining and living room.

Home

Describe your interior style?

Modern, industrial, with touches of nostalgia. We built our home eight years ago and could walk through it in our minds before it ever existed. For our seventh home, we set a challenge not to use any elements from the other homes but to create something unique to us. We aren’t big on knickknacks and love straight, clean lines. I love the juxtaposition of exposed steel beams and concrete with soft, fluffy chairs and sheer white billowing curtains.

What's your favourite room?

Difficult question. Probably our living room, it’s open plan with dining and an industrial kitchen that can be closed up behind big black corten steel doors. I love the big windows that open up completely; this part of the house is upstairs and cantilevered over a pool, so the living room becomes a deck in the summer once the windows are open. I love the city view, with a fireplace and an oversized squishy couch that can squeeze the entire family on, including our dog.

Rush’s favourite space is her living room.

Your art is so colourful; what colour combinations do you like in your home?

With the concrete (rough one-trowel concrete with all the initial spray paint and markings), steel and glass as the key elements of the downstairs ceilings and many walls, we softened that using Resene Ballerina and a Resene Rouge, plus Resene Concrete, and Resene Double Cod Grey. All the colours of spring when you look at a blossoming fruit tree. Nature never gets it wrong, so I went with that. Then we added as much lime green carpet as I was allowed to get away with; I love it.

What's your most treasured possession?

I lost my beautiful dad last year, so everything connected with him has become infinitely more precious. He was a lifelong supporter of our local rugby club, North Shore, in Devonport, and years ago, he earned a blazer that he was proud of. During our recent trip to Singapore for the Affordable Art Fair, I took it to a tailor, who resized it for me to wear, so that has taken the crown for my most treasured item.

What do you collect?

We have souvenir teaspoons from every country or city we have visited. I pick one randomly every morning when I make a cup of tea, and it brings back memories of where and when we were there. It helps to keep the memories alive.

What makes a house a home?

My family and my pets. We built this house as a foundation for us all to have somewhere solid and inspiring to be together and create incredible memories. We also have a home on Kawau Island, our escape, and a place to chill. We are all very motivated and busy people who love our careers, but we are a wickedly tight group who, including my Mum, have an absolute blast together. Our home is full of noise, movement, and fun.

The family pets Elvis and Romeo and Rush’s master bedroom.

Beauty

Who is your beauty icon, and why?

My mum because she’s so naturally gorgeous, and my daughters because they inspire me to make a bit more of an effort than I’m naturally inclined to.

What would we find in your makeup bag?

I carry lip balm, mascara, and sun lotion, as the sun does not love me. I also have a crush on hand creams and usually have a good few in my bag.

What are your favourite skincare brands?

I love Aēsop and everything they do, especially the Tea Tree Leaf Facial Exfoliant.

When you're tired or rundown, what is your best beauty hack?

A green smoothie that will pick me up every time. It has everything you need: spinach, avocado, ginger, turmeric, mint, orange, lemon, and ice. Then, maybe, weirdly, a good run. It clears my mind, gets my blood pumping, and gives me more energy.

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What is the one non-negotiable in your beauty routine?

I believe you need to sweat every day. I love running, lifting weights, boxing, anything really, but you have to sweat. I think, it keeps you healthy and does incredible things for your immune system.