We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Becca Rozar. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Becca below.

Alright, Becca thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Can you open up about a risk you’ve taken – what it was like taking that risk, why you took the risk and how it turned out?

The year is 2017 and I’m standing on the cool tile floor of our casita, strapping the last gear essentials to my bike; a snorkel and flip-flops. After a series of events involving dark skies, the Coast Guard, and an unhinged co-worker, my partner and I decided to quit our jobs at the rental shop and go ride our bikes instead. With another good pal, we set off down the coastline of Costa Rica to pedal our way to the tip of the Nicoya Peninsula. Sitting in the saddle, looking down at my fully loaded bike, uncertainty washed over me like a wave. Each pedal stroke was a risk, accelerating me into the unknown.

Teeth to the tropical breeze, we rolled along for six blissful days of country roads and free beach camping. By lunchtime the sweltering sun made it too hot to ride, so we put tires to the sand well before daybreak and spent our afternoons swimming, eating fruit, and napping in the shade. On two occasions, we needed to cross wide watery estuaries, circulating slowly with crocodiles and salt, local fishermen showing us the way. Despite any challenges we faced on this journey, it was truly a trip of a lifetime. By choosing to do the risky thing, we created a path towards a vibrant and memorable experience.

I’ve always been a wanderlusty person and spent a good decade of my life living and working seasonally. Navigating this lifestyle, a new vista always on the horizon, there was a lot of inherent risk. Stepping into the unknown over and over again can be pretty uncomfortable, but it has been a vitally important practice in cultivating presence and play in my life. It is in those vulnerable places that I’ve found the most potential to create magic and truly feel free.

In recent years, I’ve had to find new ways to channel my roving energy. Life has asked me to slow down as I’ve been learning to integrate the limitations of living with a connective tissue disorder. Making and sharing art has been such a gift in continuing to explore the unknown. There are times when I sit down with my sketchbook, a new idea trying to worm its way onto the page, and that familiar feeling of uncertainty rises. Up against this resistance, I remind myself of my lived experience, trust my instincts, and allow myself to make the art anyway. Risk is a conduit for play.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

I’ve always been a creative cat, but offering up my creativity in a professional capacity is a relatively new endeavor. I started sharing my art at the end of 2020, a time when puns and questionable jokes felt like the only antidote to widespread grief and isolation. Diving headfirst into month-long drawing challenges, the feedback I received from friends was encouraging and uplifting. With a supportive wind in my sails, I kept showing up to my practice, built my skill set, and continued to put myself out there.

Today I offer freelance services through my creative studio, Because Friendship, as a traditional illustrator, cartoonist, and graphic designer. A lot of my illustration work is humorous, whimsical, and inspired by themes of joy and connection. I am a multimedia artist working mostly with pen, watercolor, and colored pencils. I have experience creating vector graphics, doing print design, layout design, and custom typography. I love doing personal commissions (inside jokes are great for this) and I am aiming to expand into both commercial and editorial illustration.

I am slowly but surely building a line of high-quality greeting cards, which are available for purchase in my Etsy shop. I’ve been having the best time putting these together and am excited to create a full collection! In an era of abundant screen time and txt msgng, handwritten cards just hit different. There is something intimate about seeing the unique curvature of a friend’s lettering and the way their words fill a page. Snail mail is not in a hurry and I think that is a really welcome energy right now.

My biggest project right now is the writing and illustrating of my first children’s book! The story I am developing is called “The Sledding Party” and it is a love letter to a bygone 30-year tradition of gathering with neighbors on a dark night of winter, illuminating the sledding hill with candlelight and the joy of being together. My hope is that this story stokes the fires of community and belonging and inspires others to have their own sledding party! I am seeking representation from an agent or publisher for this project. If you are interested in seeing illustration samples and/or a manuscript, please reach out.

Are there any resources you wish you knew about earlier in your creative journey?

Community art classes! There are so many amazing and talented teachers out there who offer accessible classes and workshops to share their knowledge. These classes are low-pressure and supportive environments to learn new techniques and venture into unknown territory. Attending in-person classes is also a fabulous place to meet fellow creatives.

Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?

The mission driving my creative journey is right there in my business name, Because Friendship. Why do I create silly art? …because friendship! Why do I share my work on the internet? …because friendship! Why do I keep trying new things and pushing myself to grow? …because friendship! You get the idea. Friends are such an important source of strength and joy in life and I make art with the simple intention of making people smile.

If you are an artist out there, undercover and nervous to share your work, let me tell you, people want to see it! There is a great metaphor I heard on one of my favorite podcasts, The Goodship Illustration, that goes something like this. Imagine you spent the day baking the most fabulous blondie brownies, perfectly golden with gooey chocolate chips. As you’re pulling them out of the oven, your friends stop by and someone says “WOW those smell amazing!” Instead of offering up a square, you reply, “ NO sorry these are for me only.” That’s what creating art and not sharing it is like. Put yourself out there and give it a shot, you know… because friendship.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.becausefriendship.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/beccatherozar/
• Other: https://www.etsy.com/shop/BecauseFriendshipArt