Posts Tagged ‘rebecca burch’

Rebecca Recco Burch is a mixed media artist in the Charleston Valley.   She is also an Art teacher at Charleston Catholic High School.   She recognized her artistic ability at a young age and has continued her artwork throughout her life.   Ever since she was little she has had a strong passion for art and what it has to offer.   She views art as a universal language, something everyone can understand.   Anyone can create or understand art, and it is for this reason she feels so connected to it.   Rebecca Burch is a life-inspired artist.

Early Life
Rebecca Burch was born in Charleston, West Virginia.   Since she was a little girl she has always loved art.   Her mother took her to plays, museums, concerts, and other cultural events, which inspired her to enjoy all kinds of art. From then on she knew she wanted to be an artist.   Although her family was a little worried that she would not be able to support herself with only an art degree, they supported her and encouraged her to do what she loves.   She then became more involved with art in high school, where she had an amazing teacher named Mrs. Mary Helen Moynahan.   A few years later, she attended Marshall University, where she studied under Stan Sporny, Peter Massing, Mary Grassell, Earlene Allen, and Michael Cornfeld.   She learned a lot from all of them and has continued her artistic career since her graduation.

Inspiration/Admiration
Rebecca Burch gets a lot of inspiration from other artists, but her biggest inspiration comes from the world itself.   A sun shining on a building in a summer day or the sound of traffic on a busy Saturday afternoon, she enjoys creating works that celebrate life.  Really random things make her start thinking, and sometimes they lead to a big-time project.  She also loves viewing art from other artists.  As a child, she enjoyed visiting exhibits of works by Charles Jupiter Hamiton, a well-known local artist. Charles’s colorful, wild works have had a positive effect on her art.   Although she is a fan of many local artists, she can not pick a favorite, but she will admit that her favorite art is the variety of art she finds in Charleston.  She enjoys attending art exhibits whenever she can, even making quick detours through local galleries during her lunch break.

Current and Future Work
Rebecca Burch is currently working on a few projects.  She is participating in the Stations of the Cross exhibit at Christ Church United Methodist, which she is very excited about.  This is a very unusual exhibit in which different artists take on each of the 14 Stations of the Cross, and the exhibit is displayed at Easter time. She also has a few more exhibits coming up,  a large street installation during FestivALL, and is participating in the East End Banner Project.  She also has a few artistic goals for the future, but since she has young children it has been a challenge to find time to work on her art.   As her children grew older she plans to spend more time in her studio creating more unified body of work, rather than a lot of unrelated pieces created at different times.  

Her present studio, which was a gift from her husband, is a room in her basement.   It is a good size room and a perfect place to get away and to focus on only art.   She also tries to keep a project going in her classroom at Charleston Catholic High school, so her students can watch her progress.

Rebecca Burch is a very talented artist with many accomplishments and many future goals.   She  has inspired many people with her work in the classroom and in her studio.