Becky Pickard shows the quiet books she makes by hand to teach fine-motor skills. Her husband, Donnie, shows the owls she likes to make from tin cans. The two were part of Atlanta's Local Makers Market recently. Photo by Neil Abeles / Texarkana Gazette.Crafting — like guilds — can have a professional air about it. Take, for example, Rebecca Pickard's motivation for working with crafts.
"I like doing things as I would do for myself. I won't offer it to somebody if it's not good quality to me," she said recently during her participation in the Atlanta, Texas, Chamber of Commerce's initial Local Makers' Market.
The different concept of this market was to have the makers' work on display for only a short time — just several hours. Also, the artists themselves had to be from a 50-mile radius of Atlanta and have their work vetted for being homemade or homegrown.
Pickard, now in her fifth year as a Queen City Elementary School special education teacher, said she enjoys "making something out of nothing."
At the event she displayed several "quiet books," which are hand-sewn books of felt cloth that can be used to teach fine-motor skills such as tying shoelaces, buttoning, zipping or threading.
Pickard said she also likes to show her scarves, headbands and beanies. Her craft business is called Becky's Arts.
One of her favorite creative projects is to turn tin cans into comic owls.
"I like to create something new or turn something old into something different," she said. "My mom was always busy with her hands. That's what I like to do now. I see a new idea or something that's already there and change it. Just give me a little encouragement and I'm off and going."
Pickard shows her work in public only occasionally, such as by having a booth or tent for a festival. She works mostly by special request or for gifts she wants to give away.
She especially likes to contribute by making things that will be sold at fundraising ventures, especially those for her church, New Hope Baptist Church of Bloomburg.
"It means a lot for me to do this," she said.
If this sounds like the view of a settled person, it is because she has an interesting background. She grew up in California and came to Texas with her family, her father working in the oil and water drilling field.
After graduating from Huntsville, Texas, high school, she went to Eastern New Mexico University to become a volcanologist.
"I ended up getting a degree in geology. Later I wanted to be a schoolteacher, and so got my education credentials by working with iTeachTexas, which is a program that takes college graduates with a degree outside of education and prepares them for the classroom. It was perfect for me."
In her crafting, Pickard said she is helped in a big way by her husband, Donnie, who sets up or takes down displays.
"He also encourages me and tells me honestly if he thinks I've got a good idea or not. I need that sometimes," she said.
To contact Pickard, the best way would be by Facebook and her Becky's Arts page. Or email her at [email protected]
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