Rachel Shea Beck

Artist Statement

Rachel Shea Beck loves playing with fire and banging on metal! She is a metalsmith, enamelist and jewelry artist and owner of Pelted Head Studio Jewelry. Her jewelry has been shown and sold throughout the Augusta-Atlanta region and beyond. Rachel has also enjoyed drawing and painting since early childhood. She is a native of New York City, but has made Augusta her home since 1996.

The past two years of Rachel's life have been quite challenging. First Hurricane Helene severely damaged her house (it's still a work in progress) and totaled her car. A few months later, her husband was laid off due to the defunding of PEPFAR (thankfully, he is once again employed). Then she had kidney stones. As if all that wasn't enough, Rachel was soon diagnosed with cancer, which required major surgery and 7 weeks of daily radiation treatment. And then, and then...

As part of her processing through and healing from all these challenges, Rachel decided to work on renewing and reclaiming her full creativity by furthering her exploration of making 2-D art. Her focus is on abstract painting and collage, and she most enjoys combining the two. She is currently letting her inner child take the wheel, playing with color and texture, in whatever media and direction she chooses, with no plans, no expectations, and no self-judgement.

Rachel has detoured towards self-realization and reclamation, in a softer direction, and softer media than her usual metalworking, to soothe her senses and her psyche. She hopes you enjoy the art born of this healing adventure.