Bec Bookwalter
My Story
A dreamer with a camera in one hand and a paintbrush in the other.
Hi, I’m Rebecca Bookwalter, but you can call me Bec.
I believe every flower, every shadow, and every change of light tells a story. For me, creating is as essential as breathing and a vital way to release emotions and ideas that words can't capture. My process is intuitive and nonjudgmental, allowing each piece to flow out in its own time, carrying traces of wonder, truth, and the beauty I find in every season. I create art that evokes the language of emotion through nature, figures, and color. This is my story.
My journey as an artist has been shaped by a lifelong passion for color, texture, and the subtle details that make the world feel alive. I’ve always been drawn to the beauty in everyday moments and the often unseen details that surround us. The sunlight through petals, the shimmer of water, and the patterns in nature all inspire me, and I’ve spent my life finding ways to capture them and tell my story through art. My art also allows me to work through complex emotions tangibly.
Growing up in northern Pennsylvania, with a river in my backyard and summers spent in northern Vermont, my earliest memories are of wandering barefoot, observing ladybugs and fireflies, and collecting rocks and seashells. I also loved helping my mom tend her flower gardens.
I didn’t know it then, but those quiet hours surrounded by petals, stones, and shifting light were shaping the way I see the world, and the way I would one day translate it into art.
I began creating art as a child, exploring with whatever materials I could get my hands on. Over time, I developed a deep appreciation for how art can hold emotion, tell stories, reveal subtle details, and preserve fleeting moments. Nature was my first teacher, showing me how beauty exists in both the grand and the small, from the vast array of colors in the autumn landscape to the subtle curve and texture of a single leaf. I began to draw, paint, photograph, and sculpt the things I loved, trying to hold on to the feelings they stirred within me. Art became a refuge, a private language of color, texture, and form.
My creative journey has led me through multiple disciplines and mediums, such as drawing, photography, painting, ceramics, sculpture, printmaking, design, and more, with each expanding the ways I could tell a story without words. Chronic illness has changed the shape of my practice, guiding me toward gentler, more sustainable approaches. But it has never diminished my need to create. If anything, it’s made that need more urgent, more necessary, more alive.
I use my creative superpowers to help me adapt and thrive through life’s challenges.
Flowers remain at the heart of my work. They are a constant source of inspiration, joy, and hope. They are vibrant, fragile, and resilient all at once. As Monet said, “I must have flowers, always, and always.” Whether I’m arranging fresh blooms in my home, sketching petals in the afternoon light, or painting flower-inspired abstracts, they remind me that beauty blooms in every season, even the difficult ones.
My current work includes colorful paintings, drawings, fine art photography, and macro studies that explore the moods and rhythms of my inner emotional landscape and the natural world. I approach each piece intuitively, layering color, light, and texture to evoke feeling as much as form. Some of my work arrives softly like a gentle breeze, and others dramatically like a torrential thunderstorm.
I aim to create work that feels both familiar and dreamlike, rooted in nature, yet touched by imagination.
Today, I create from my bright home studio in South Central Pennsylvania, surrounded by plants, flowers, and the ever-changing light that pours through the windows. My process blends research and spontaneity, allowing space for both curiosity and intuition. Each piece is a reflection of how I notice the world, its textures, colors, and infinite wonders, and offers an invitation for you to pause, breathe, and feel something that words alone can’t hold.
For me, creating is a process of self-discovery, self-expression, and connection. It’s an immersive experience that allows me to translate my connections to nature and my emotions into something tangible. My work is as much about your story as it is about mine. I invite you to explore my portfolios, see what resonates, and connect with me if something speaks to you.
A Few of My Favorite Things
🌹 Raindrops on roses (yes, really!)
🍵 Earl Grey tea & matcha lattes w/ coconut milk
🍓 Strawberry lemonade & sunny days
📷 Macro photography & flower arranging
📚 Getting lost in a good book
🌿 Being immersed in nature
🦶 Being barefoot in the grass or sand
What I Love to Watch
🎬 Amélie & A Room With A View
🚀 The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy
😂 British comedies & ‘Who Done It’ mysteries
📖 Jane Austen & Agatha Christie stories
💃 Anything with dance
🛸 Sci-Fi (Stargate + Firefly forever)
🍃 “I am a leaf on the wind, watch how I soar.” 😭
Quirks & Traits
📏 Nearly 6 feet tall, top shelves are my specialty
💜 Purple has always been my color from birth
🚗 Didn’t learn to drive until my late 20s
🗣️ Strangers tell me their life stories
🐦 I talk to animals like they’re people
☕ Love the smell of coffee, but can’t drink it
🌈 Vivid, detailed technicolor dreams regularly
🤫 Collects unusual nicknames (but not sharing!)
👠 Obsessed with shoes, prefers being barefoot
🦋 I’m a cancer survivor
🌈 Personality is INFP & 4w5
Art & Creativity
📸 First photo shoot was with my favorite doll
🎒 Never leaves home without a camera
📖 Bookworm who rereads favorite books
❤️ Vizualize books vividly like lived memories
Outings I Love
🌷 Wandering gardens & art museums
🌻 Countryside drives with the windows down
🌊 Being anywhere near, in, on, or around water
Playing On Repeat
🎶 The Amélie soundtrack & Yann Tiersen
🎻 Mozart, Chopin, Beethoven, Tchaikovsky, Liszt
🎷 Ella, Billie, Miles, Louis, Sarah
👩🎤 Caravan Palace, Adele, Florence + the Machine
🍀 The Cranberries (my favorite band)
🎧 Eclectic playlists with alternative, punk, electronic, folk, rap, rock, pop, etc.
“I must have flowers, always, and always.”
— Claude Monet
Discover More of My Story
My Studio Journal is a blog about creativity, process, inspiration, and my artistic journey. You will discover more about my creative process, where I create, how I create, what inspires me as an artist, and more.
