Raynel Shepard is a renaissance woman: jazz vocalist, visual artist, educator and home chef. She was born in Chicago and grew up in Berkeley, California. She moved to the East Coast after two years of service in the Peace Corps in the Congo. She holds a doctorate from Harvard. Raynel comes from a family with deep roots in the Black Creole community of New Orleans. She performs Jazz and the American Songbook, as “Lady Ray”, with her trio of musicians at ROOTED Armory Café, other venues, and in New Orleans, where she winters.

She was featured in the documentary film (funded by the Somerville Arts Council), We Are Here, Too, as one of four women artists of color in Somerville.  She began experimenting with mixed media during the Covid epidemic. This is her first art exhibition. Raynel is based in Somerville and New Orleans and lives with her loving husband, Nigel Hamilton, and loyal dog, Matisse. 

“I create colorful, textured, abstract art using mixed media and collage. My process is intuitive. I let materials and technique guide that process. I start without a plan and respond to what emerges as I apply layers of paint and materials. The goal or “story” of the finished product reveals itself through adding and taking away layers by sanding, collaging, painting, and repainting. Because I am also a performing jazz vocalist, I incorporate music in what I create visually. I collage printed music on to a piece, or I imagine how a picture I create suggests lyrics to songs that I sing and the stories those lyrics tell.” –Raynel Shepard 

Visit a reception with Raynel Shepard on Saturday, December 9.  from 3:00 to 5:00 p.m., 191 Highland Ave.