My Story

Rachel Vincent-Rossi, the preferred name Ray Vincent grew up as a third culture kid and lived abroad for much of her childhood. After a few years at home in the United States, she couldn't resist her deep sense of wanderlust and flew from country to country, experiencing different parts of the world and spending many of her days at beaches along different oceans.

A few years later, she returned to the U.S. with a desire to be closer to nature. Asheville called her name and drew her in. Ray is a self-taught artist inspired to paint after feeding the birds and squirrels in her front yard and began to embark on free bird-watching tours with Blue Ridge Audubon. Photos on birding tours and in her front yard sparked her inspiration to paint the animals around us, and soon her paintings became whimsical stories of the adventures of wild creatures. Black bears, squirrels, beavers, groundhogs, and more fill these vibrant landscapes hand-painted with acrylic on canvas, wood, and recycled materials. The name of her business Little Ray of Light Design comes from Ray’s intention to bring love and light to your soul through creations inspired by the joy of living in nature. A near-death experience with a lightning strike invigorated Ray’s passion for art, realizing that her little ray of light is a bright and powerful force to be shared with all. Ray’s art is created free-handedly by intuitively using a dabbing technique with acrylic paint. Ray also learns every day about the human impact on wildlife and how important it is to protect vulnerable animal and plant populations. Find Ray at a local art market to learn how a small portion of her proceeds will be donated to local wildlife centers in Western North Carolina. Ray also has her pieces available at local shops in Asheville so make sure to give her a follow on Instagram @littlerayoflightdesign to see where. Ray is also very thankful for all of the support from WWBC to help grow her business and network with other inspiring women entrepreneurs.