Always Chasing Rainbow

I first met Rainbow Mosho while I was taking my Praxis classes back in 2020. I think I even remember the first thing she asked ~ how she could get her work exhibited in a museum.

But it was on Instagram when I really got to know her or become familiar with her work. Praxis encouraged us in the use of Instagram and to follow each other (you know, our ‘classmates’). And after a while, I was drawn to not just her art but the artist behind it.

For the Love of Art

​Born Thomais V Moshopoulos in Athens, Greece in 2008, Rainbow Mosho is an artist on the autism spectrum. Her work has been exhibited in Tennessee, where she now lives and works, as well as in California, Florida, and New York, and in Beijing, Dubai, and Japan.

When I met Rainbow, she was just 12 years old, but (if I remember correctly), she had already built up a significant body of work. What I liked most about her work was how pure and straightforward it was  ~ and still is, today.

Do you remember drawing as a kid? For the sheer pleasure of it? Devouring with your eyes the colour, texture ~ of the medium, of the support, being able to feel it with your hands? (And this is why I’d never taken to painting with gloves on, lol.)

You didn’t worry about, I don’t know ~ impressing anybody or whatever. You drew things because you loved it ~ the process, of bringing your thoughts out of your brain and into the world so that you could share it with other people.
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Work of Love

I get that same, precious experience again looking at Rainbow’s work. She has such beautiful thoughts, these pristine, powerful images which, for me, can only come from somebody who feels very strongly about something.

My favourite piece of hers is ‘Kaitiaki’, a painting of a Taniwha, a monster from Maori mythology. I am loving the metallic background, the bold, striking colours and the benevolent eyes of a being described by Wikipedia as dangerous and predatory.

I remember Miss Yadira, Rainbow’s Mom, showing “Kaitiaki’ to me as a work in progress over a video call and being totally mindblown by it. (You know me, always happy to meet new friends of my kind ^_^)

Speaking of Miss Yadira, I’d like to take a moment to say a few words about how amazing she is ~ though we’ve never met in person, I would (with her permission) give her a big hug if we ever did.

She has always been very kind and supportive, making time (like she did with that video call) to share some much-needed advice. We don’t get to speak often (my activity on Instagram becoming, perforce, even more limited of late) but whenever we do, I always feel like I have a friend.
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Beauty and Light

I think the way Rainbow expresses herself is a reflection of what she feels and thinks about the world around her. And even though not everything around her is what you might call beautiful, the way she translates it into her work can’t help but draw in anybody who might see it.

I, for one, am very happy that very many people have ~ and I have no doubt that her work will continue to amass a large and growing following. So many artists today whose work may not be so, positive, shall we say, attract hordes of fans for all the wrong reasons.

I feel that we need more artists like Rainbow to put more beauty and light into the world for people to enjoy and learn from, and be inspired by.

Art, for me, has always been a *Spider-Man* thing ~ it’s a great power that comes with you know what. As far as I can see, Rainbow is definitely putting her formidable super powers to good use, not just for herself but for other folks, as well ~ not to mention her fellow artists.
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By Your Powers Combined

Rainbow’s kind and generous spirit has enabled her to recognise what the power of many who are united can achieve versus the power of one, especially when that power is used in a good cause.

It’s been so inspiring to see how this very young artist has, in such a short time, been able to galvanise artists of all ages into sharing their own gifts to ~ sounds trite but it’s true ~ help make the world even a little bit better.

One example of this that comes to mind is ‘Adventures at the Zoo’, one of several children’s books authored and illustrated by Rainbow that I was privileged to contribute to. In creating this book, which promotes the protection of wildlife, Rainbow invited other artists to share their work in it.

Rainbow continues to find new ways to invite other artists to share her spotlight, like that time I made that ‘rainbow pilandok (mouse deer)’, or when she invited me to join Women in Tech last year.

Rogue Kingdom

This year, Rainbow has set in motion one of her biggest artistic collaborations to date ~ the ‘Rogue Kingdom’ exhibit in Times Square. This time, she’s assembled over 100 artists to share their work in support of technological innovation in the arts.

Slated for 15 to 18 November, the exhibit is all about ‘bringing together diverse voices, giving them a platform, and showing the world that creativity can break through barriers, whether those are personal, societal, or technological.’

It’s been a real privilege for me to have been invited to submit my work, which you see here at the top of this jillablog post. It’s called ‘Hope Blooms’ and I had great fun making it and was hoping that 1. it was good enough for the show and 2. people would be able to take something positive from it.

Great Responsibility

My art, on the whole, has never been very, cause-oriented, shall we say ~ at least, not overtly. Although I’ve always had a thing for different kinds of people (i.e. whether you were a monster or a human) being friends and getting along (instead of hunting each other, that kind of thing).

True, I’ve worked on a few things here and there for what I hoped were good causes but they were more, illustration projects rather than, you know. Monsters I just like to make for me ^_^

Rainbow, having used art from such a young age to inspire and uplift other people, rather puts me to shame, I feel.

I believe that God gives us our abilities for a reason, and while I’m all for art for art’s sake, Rainbow makes me wonder whether I’m using what God gave me for what He meant me to use it for. Kind of like, jill, I didn’t send you to art school just so you can paint unicorns for your own amusement.
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Gift of Hope

I know for sure that Rainbow is using her God-given talents to give people hope ~ and isn’t that what we need, today, more than ever, with all the awful going on in the world?

The hope that, no matter who you are, there’s something you can do to help other people ~ even if it’s just to make them feel even a little bit better, for a very little while.

I’m not saying every piece of art we make has to be some, I don’t know, social realist, moralising masterpiece ~ although I do hold to what I picked up in Asian Art History class back at art school: That at the very least, your work shouldn’t make people worse for having seen or experienced it.

What I am saying, though, is that, very simply, everything we make as artists has the power to make people better. And that the time we have to use that power is so short. (Heck the guy in that Miyazaki movie says we can really only create for 10 years (!)

I’m just saying let’s not squander this power ~ or why waste it? Is all. Doesn’t have to be some magnum opus, but if you’ve got the chance to make one person better or brighten one person’s day with your art, why not?

And then why not go for gold? ^_^


I know Rainbow Mosho has, and as young as she is with her already incredible track record, I just know that she’s going to accomplish far, far more on so many levels, and for so many, many other lucky people.

I also know that I’m one of the lucky ones to have been moved by Rainbow’s work, and doubly so to have even taken a very tiny part in it. God grant that I may live to see her work touch even more lives around the world in the years to come.
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