Meet Rebecca

Hello.I'm Rebecca.

This is hard! I'd much rather talk about anything other than myself. I'm just me. Nothing especially extraordinary. At least I don't think so. That's for you to decide.

What I will say is, this isn't the first version of Meet Rebecca to exist. I strayed away from me for a while, trying to fit into boxes that weren't meant for me, using a voice that never quite felt like my own because I thought it was what I should do.

So this is me, in my own voice, trying not to worry whether it's right or wrong.

My happy place is home. Walking through my front door after a day away, shutting it behind me and taking that big breath. Phew... peopling done. Peace, comfort, family, happiness. It can be noisy with laughter and arguments, and sometimes finding a quiet corner is easier said than done, but it's my favourite place to be.

I work from a desk in the corner of our living room, right in the middle of family life, there if I'm needed. Well... I say my desk. There's no grand studio to disappear into (yet). I spend half my time moving between my desk and the dining table depending on the light. The dining room has beautiful bright south-facing light, while my desk has the cooler light from the north.

Weekend walks are another favourite. Just my husband and me before the children eventually surface. They're older now, so they sleep in. Unfortunately, we've reached the age where we wake up early instead!

We make quite a funny sight. I'm usually wandering along with my camera permanently attached to my face, macro lens on, leaning as close as I possibly can to whatever has caught my eye before inevitably almost falling into the hedge. My husband, meanwhile, has his binoculars pointed at the sky looking for birds. Maybe the children stay in bed on purpose.

A rainy, windy walk is my perfect kind. Living here on the Wirral, with views across the Dee towards North Wales, we're never short of weather. I love big skies, mountains, woodland and water. I love that feeling of standing somewhere that reminds you how small you really are.

I love flowers. I mean... doesn't everyone? Actually, no. My husband is only just discovering his appreciation for them! It's a constant battle in the garden between him, me and the slugs. He'd happily fill it with beautiful greenery, I'd love an English country garden, and the slugs seem to think every flower I plant is just for them.

I suppose that's one of the reasons I make paper flowers. If I can't grow them (houseplants rarely survive around me... even my terrarium died), I'll make them instead.

But not exact copies. That would feel a bit rude when Mother Nature has already done such a magnificent job.

What fascinates me isn't simply that flowers are beautiful. It's how they're put together. I'm forever looking into the middle to see how everything fits, watching the way a stem bends towards the light or how the sunlight suddenly reveals all the tiny veins in a leaf that you'd never notice otherwise. The more I look, the more there is to see.

Every piece begins long before I start making. I prepare and colour every petal, leaf and stem by hand, much like a painter prepares a canvas. Then, slowly, they begin to come to life. I'm not trying to fool anyone into thinking they're real. I'm simply trying to create my own interpretation of the things that made me stop and look in the first place.

More than anything, I hope the pieces I make become part of someone's home. Not just something to decorate a shelf, but something that's lived with. A piece that makes you pause for a moment, look a little closer, and perhaps notice the beauty that's been quietly there all along.

I'm really glad you found your way here.

Rebecca