Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Rebekah Lowell. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Alright, Rebekah thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Did you always know you wanted to pursue a creative or artistic career? When did you first know?
When I was a toddler I started drawing. Some of my first memories include drawing what I saw outside, or drawing while I was outside. I still have one of my first drawings of a Mallard. I was so proud of his curly tail. Making art has always made me happy. I continued drawing into my teen years and through adulthood. I’ve drawn my entire life. There was never a time that I didn’t want to be an artist.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
I’ve always been drawn to the outside world. As a child I spent as much time in the Maine woods and fields surrounding home I could. This landscape inspires the work I create today because it’s part of my heart for this lifetime.
Around the age of five I recall drawing a mallard duck, complete with black curly tail, and was very proud of it. At age eight I drew a whitetail deer for a birthday gift to my brother. When I was ten, I wanted an Audubon Field Guide to North American Wildflowers book, and still have it today. One of my favorite books as a child was a guided nature journal where I could check off seasonal lists of wildlife I found. I carried around a my own sketchbook, drew plants, to later identify them in my field guide.
In high school, I took as many art classes as I could, attended Heartwood College of Art during vacations and showed my work at local art festivals. My Dad built a display for me and made a sign. At 14 I won an honorable mention for an oil painting of a lighthouse and sold it for $100. I was on top of the world.
It was never a question to me about what I would do after high school—I would go to art college. There was no plan B. In 2000 I began my college career at Savannah College of Art and Design. In 2001 I transferred closer to home to Rhode Island School of Design.
In 2003 I was married and all my plans to become a working artist were derailed as domestic abuse took hold. Though I still graduated with a BFA in Illustration from RISD in 2004, I fought hard for that diploma. Starting right after classes ended, for an entire decade I was confined to the walls we lived in, only venturing outside when the person abusing me would bring me out. My life has been forever altered by this experience and the innocent child that roamed the wildflower fields is gone. My heart though, has found a way to be resilient, and though it bears scars, it is strong. My desire to observe and create something beautiful never left. I would secretly paint or write in journals while he was gone for work. (I have 18 journals from those years). When he came home, I would quickly pick up, for fear of the consequences seen doing something that didn’t serve him. I had learned how to survive, and raise two young daughters, while teaching them how to survive in that environment as well, until one day, I knew we wouldn’t be able to survive much longer. On March 6, 2013, we left, with the help of family and local law enforcement, and recovery began.
Recovery is ongoing. Making art and writing stories is part of that process for me, for us. I love spending time outside, painting, and writing. Sharing what I love about nature with others brings me joy and I hope it brings you joy as well. In my work, I long to encourage empathy for the natural world, and in doing so, empathy for each other.
We can learn a lot from nature. It goes through seasons of change, rest, growth, and renewal. Birds and butterflies make journeys over thousands and miles, plants tarnish with brown leaves and grow vibrant again each spring, frogs freeze underground, coming back to life when the sun warms the earth. We too, can survive like they do, and then thrive like they do as well.
In 2014 we moved to Caring Unlimited and they helped get back on our feet by providing an apartment to live in, support, encouragement, and resources. In 2014 I also created a painting for the Maine Duck Stamp and won. Later that summer returned to school to pursue my master’s degree at Hollins University study children’s literature and illustration, bringing my four and six-year-old daughters with me to Virginia. I couldn’t afford it, especially since I had left our previous life with no funds at all, but I knew it was what I needed to do. My family and friends fought to help us succeed. I applied for grants, scholarships and loans, and somehow found a way. After five summers of driving back and forth between Maine and Virginia, I graduated with an MFA in Children’s Literature and Illustration, with a 4.0 GPA and several awards for my work. While at Hollins I worked on my craft, writing picture books and middle grade work, created illustrations, and wrote academic papers.
In 2018 I signed with my first literary agent and we sold my illustrated middle grade novel in verse, THE ROAD TO AFTER, to Nancy Paulsen at Penguin Random House. That book published in May of 2022 and I’m currently working on my next middle grade novel.
In 2021 I signed with Paige Terlip at the Andrea Brown Literary Agency and my family and I celebrated with not one, but two flavors of ice cream cake. Paige and I went on to sell my debut picture book, CATCHING FLIGHT to Frances Gilbert at Doubleday Books for Young Readers and that book soared onto shelves in March of 2023.
Since 2014 my work has been featured on the Maine Duck Stamp five times, and my “Monarchs and Milkweed” painting was chosen to grace the Common Ground Fair poster for 2023. Monarchs are one of my passions. Over the past several years I’ve raised and released over 1,000, gathering up eggs and caterip;;ars from local hayfields, raising them and then tagging them before release. Nature inspires all of my work.
After learning the art of Surface Pattern Design with Bonnie Christine, I’ve expanded into the industry of surface pattern design and my debut fabric collection, Emerge (also about monarchs), released with Paint Brush Studio Fabrics in fall of 2023.
Current projects are more picture books, more middle grade novels and more pattern collections. The possibilities feel endless.
I’ve also expanded into an online shop at shop.rebekahlowell.com. I offer my products at wholesale as well, both through Faire and locally.
In addition to creating children’s books, fabric collections, paintings and products, I also offer nature journaling workshops to help others connect to nature through art.
Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?
When I graduated with my BFA from Rhode Island School of Design in 2004, I had planned on becoming a children’s author/illustrator, but I married into an abusive relationship and wasn’t able to pursue my dreams in the way I had envisioned. For ten years I was held captive, inhibited, and controlled in every aspect of my life. When I escaped with my two daughters in 2013, I was physically free again, but it took some time for me to feel emotionally and mentally free. Some days it still feels like a work in progress.
As soon as I was able, I applied to grad school to earn my MFA in Children’s Literature and Illustration from Hollins University. I brought my daughters with me to Virginia for five summers, and my mom and sister took turns staying with us to be with my girls so I could attend classes. In 2018 I signed with my first literary agent and we sold my debut middle grade novel in verse to Nancy Paulsen at Penguin Random House. I’ve since also published a picture book and have more books in the works. I also sell products such as notecards, stickers, pins, and tea towels on my online shop (retail) and through Faire (wholesale). In 2020 I began learning about surface pattern design and art licensing and this past fall I launched my first fabric collection with PBS Fabrics.
I teach workshops in Nature Journaling and offer school and library visits surround the work with my children’s books as well.
Recovery is not linear but finding a way to do one thing a day (or five), and follow my passions, has helped me to find joy and motivation for always learning, always growing, and then sharing these joys with my daughters (I’m a homeschooling mama too). I’m forever curious and this leads to resilience, at least for me.
Looking back, are there any resources you wish you knew about earlier in your creative journey?
Yes, for sure. And because of this I’ve created a FREE RESOURCES GUIDE in the links page of my website at rebekahlowell.com/links. I’ve compiled what has helped me most into a guide so it’s all in one place because maybe that will make your creative journey a little easier.
You can download that guide for free and see all of my favorite tools and supplies, books, courses, and groups to help you on your creative journey at rebekahlowell.com/links.
On that links page, I also share different resources that are timely, and right now, Bonnie Christine is offering a free workshop from February 5-13th and I’m sharing the link for that there on my links page as well!
I also have a monthly newsletter where I share resources and what I’m reading, listening to, and learning, as well as projects I have going on in the studio so I hope you will follow along! You can find all of this at rebekahlowell.com/links.
Thank you!
Rebekah
Contact Info:
- Website: https://rebekahlowell.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rebekahlowell/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/rebekahlowellstudio/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rebekah-lowell-13120153
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/RebekahLowell
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCpq1hhEe8VnwvyfYk_GvdqA
- Other: Take My Skillshare Class, One month free! https://www.skillshare.com/en/tedx?teacherRef=4634220&via=teacher-referral&utm_campaign=teacher-referral&utm_source=ShortUrl&utm_medium=teacher-referral&t=Creating-a-Watercolor-Techniques-Sampler&sku=1216490495
Image Credits
Dennis Welsh (photo of me on rocks) Brooke Larrabee (photo of me in field)