Rebecca "Bec" Hawkins Valadez has considered herself an artist all her life. She was first taught and encouraged to draw by her mother who channeled her abundant energy into drawing, painting, and cooking. All forms of curiosity were encouraged.
Her current work is mixed media consisting of paint, oil pastels, borrowed images and her own photographs. She works in a backwards progression, with a prompt or title of the piece first, guided by the subconscious mind she works with various ideas such as feminism, politics, autobiographical events or just plain whimsy.
Rebecca was a former resident of Bloomington, but now resides in Southern Illinois with her husband Sal and her much loved dogs.