Life & Work with Rayn of Atlanta

Today we’d like to introduce you to Rayn.

Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
I started playing the harp when I was around 10 or 11 years old after my chorus teacher told my mom about the Urban Youth Harp Ensemble program. Music had already been a big part of my life.
I started with piano, then violin and viola in elementary school before finding the harp in sixth grade.
As I got older, I took a break from music to focus on other things like cheerleading, track, and honestly just being a regular teenager. But years later, during a period where I felt a little lost in life, a close friend reminded me how rare and special it was for me to play the harp. That conversation pushed me to pick it back up again, and I thought, “Why not?”
Writing has always been another huge part of who I am. I wrote my first book when I was seven years old and have been writing poetry ever since. When I returned to the harp, I had the idea to combine both passions together and create my own lane as “The Poetic Harpist.” For the first time, I felt like I had truly found something that was meant for me.
I also studied writing and storytelling at Savannah College of Art and Design, where I became even more interested in scriptwriting, visual storytelling, and animation. That creative curiosity later pushed me to teach myself animation so I could bring my ideas fully to life on my own terms.
After having my daughter, I went through one of the hardest periods of my life. We both almost didn’t make it during childbirth, and afterward I struggled to feel connected to myself again. But through caring for her, soothing her, and teaching her, I slowly found myself again too. Her nickname is “Yaba,” which inspired the name Yaba’s Garden. What started as simple videos of Yaba learning her ABCs in our backyard garden eventually grew into a full children’s series on YouTube.
Now I blend music, poetry, storytelling, scriptwriting, and animation together to create art that feels healing, imaginative, and emotionally honest. My work is rooted in creativity, connection, and showing people that even difficult experiences can grow into something beautiful.

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Absolutely not. It’s still a struggle now in many ways. I’ve dealt with feeling lost, financial struggles, self-doubt, rebuilding my confidence after becoming a mother, and trying to create a career in spaces that don’t always have a clear blueprint for what I do.
Being an artist, musician, writer, and creator all at once can feel overwhelming because so much of the journey is self taught and self led.

I’ve also experienced some deeply traumatic moments in recent years that forced me to reevaluate myself, my strength, and what kind of life I want for both me and my daughter. I don’t think hardship is something anyone fully prepares for, but I’ve learned that difficult experiences can either harden you or deepen you. For me, they deepened my art, my perspective, and my sense of purpose.
Over time, I’ve started to understand that the difficult parts are shaping me into the person I need to become for the life I want. They’ve taught me resilience, creativity, patience, and how to keep creating even when things aren’t perfect.
One of my biggest motivations is my daughter. I want her to see that life isn’t always a smooth road, and it’s unrealistic to expect every goal or dream to happen easily. I want her to grow up seeing someone continue to create, adapt, and believe in themselves even during hard seasons.

As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
I’m a multidisciplinary artist who blends harp, poetry, storytelling, and visual creativity together. Most people know me for playing the harp, but what I really specialize in is creating emotional experiences through art.
I write and perform poetry while playing the harp, which allows me to combine music and storytelling in a way that feels very personal and immersive.
A lot of my work is inspired by experiences I’ve lived through or witnessed, so everything I create comes from a real place emotionally.

Beyond music and poetry, I also write scripts, create children’s content, and taught myself animation while building Yaba’s Garden.
I enjoy creating worlds and stories that feel meaningful, healing, imaginative, and honest.
What I’m most proud of is my resilience and growth. I’m proud that no matter what life has thrown at me, I’ve continued creating. I’ve continued learning. I’ve continued evolving. A lot of the skills I have now came from teaching myself, experimenting, and believing that I could figure things out even when I didn’t have a clear path.
What sets me apart is my ability to merge multiple forms of art into one experience. I’m not just a harpist, and I’m not just a poet. I’m both at the same time. I don’t know many people who are simultaneously performing spoken word while playing the harp, writing scripts, building animated stories, and creating worlds from their own life experiences. I think my work stands out because it’s deeply personal and unapologetically creative.

Are there any apps, books, podcasts, blogs or other resources you think our readers should check out?
I’m not really into podcast. I guess I’d say my main resource is YouTube. Outside of that I just do until I figure it out.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/raynwater?igsh=NTBqaGN4M2xjNG10&utm_source=qr
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/share/1CN9pVR1jg/?mibextid=wwXIfr
• Youtube: https://m.youtube.com/@auntierayn
• Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@auntierayn?_r=1&_t=ZT-96AocmuZWVa