Like many thousands before her, Bridge based artist Beci came to this part of the world in want of an education and the university experience in the city of Canterbury. She fell in love with the city, all its charm and the stunning surrounding areas and has stayed put ever since, spending her young adult years here, drawing the architecture she so adores.
CommunityAd had the pleasure of asking the key worker who doubles up as an amazing Bridge based artist Beci a few questions about creativity, lockdowns and her recent commissions via her Instagram page.
When did you first pick up a pencil and why?
My first vivid memory of drawing was something perhaps quite comical now. I remember drawing made up characters and cutting them out. I would give them names, ages and elaborate back stories; I’d play with them like dolls, make them walk and talk to each other. It was a game that I played often and probably preferred it to playing with real dolls.
We absolutely love all your art, it’s very charming I’d say. You use pencilling and minimum colour, what is it about these techniques that appeals to your artistic nature?
Thank you, that’s really nice. I think it’s true when people say that “you stick to what you know.” Over the years, I’ve tried my hand at sculpture, ceramics, painting and even though I enjoyed them it never felt the same as when I picked up a pencil.
I have been experimenting with different mediums to try and convey the contrasting textures of buildings, for instance I taught myself to draw with a fountain pen to get a fine line that I couldn’t achieve with a normal liner. I go through different phases of preferring certain materials, at the moment it’s mechanical pencils, coloured pencils, pro markers and fine liners. Occasionally, I do monochromatic pieces and for this I use a majority of pro markers and watercolours.
Why would you recommend drawing and painting, generally just trying a creative process for our readers? It’s a great way to spend indoor nights, very therapeutic and good for one’s mental health, isn’t it?
I’ve personally found drawing to be a great release and it’s great to have your mind focus on something else for a while. I can be really mad or upset about something so I’ll sit down with my journal and then I’m there for hours. It’s something I would recommend to anyone who suffers with anxiety and depression. It doesn’t necessarily have to be drawing either, writing down your thoughts, recording your voice or even just reading can give you the same escape.
Do you feel the lockdowns have benefited your art at all?
I’ve been working as a key worker throughout lockdown and so my mental health has taken quite the knock at times. Being away from family and friends, I’ve had to rely on my art to help me through, which it has done, thankfully. I personally feel lockdown has given me a lot of time to draw and reflect on previous pieces I have done, what worked and what didn’t. So, hopefully, my work has improved thanks to lockdown.
It must be a satisfying feeling to have such nice feedback as you often do after a commission?
Honestly, it surprises me that people want me to do commissions, I still feel like that 9-year-old girl who draws silly characters in her bedroom. If only I could go back and tell her that one day her drawings would end up on gallery walls and people would pay her to draw things for them. I feel honoured and so lucky to get to create gifts for people to make them happy.