On Committing to the Work That Scares You with Rachel Gloria Adams 

On Committing to the Work That Scares You with Rachel Gloria Adams 

Duration: 01:00:01 | Recorded November, 2025 - LISTEN HERE

In this episode, Kaylan sits down with multidisciplinary artist Rachel Gloria Adams to talk about the beautiful, winding way a creative practice evolves over time. Rachel shares how her painting work gradually shifted to include quilting — her canvases had grown so geometric they practically asked for it — and how incorporating family photographs into her work went from a long-held back-burner idea to a full commitment. Kaylan asks her what held her back, and Rachel opens up honestly about the fear of tokenism that came with showing Black portraiture, and the safety and visibility she found when she finally worked with a curator of color.

The conversation gets into the real texture of building new skills without burning out, staying patient for the right moment to share your work, and trusting that opportunities will come when the time is right. Rachel also talks openly about normalizing the tools that actually fit into a busy artist-parent life — including working on her iPad without any shame around it.

As a mural artist who runs a mural business alongside her husband, Rachel gives a candid look at how that collaborative work shapes her own studio practice, and how she and her husband make sure both of their voices and styles show up in their shared projects. And as someone who moves fluidly between mediums, she reflects on what draws her to different materials at different moments — including the very relatable desire to be cozy, stay home, and make art from bed

Check out more of Rachel’s work on her website and follow her on instagram @rachelgloriaia