Becky Fortenberry

Becky was a “later in life” art student. She first started getting serious about taking photos in her 40’s and after her boss told her one of her photos “looked like a magazine ad”. She started entering photo/art shows and contest. Her biggest achievement with photos was winning Best of Show for the 1st inaugural San Pedro River Arts Council annual “Celebrate The Arts” juried show and sale.  She actually started taking photos with the intent of learning to paint and then paint some of her favorite photos. Two things happened in 2010 that allowed that dream to come into fruition. The school district where Becky worked went on a 4 day school/work week and the local community college started offering beginner art classes for adultson Fridays. Becky signed up and the love affair began. The class offered a few weeks instruction in several mediums with mixed media/ collage being one area of instruction. She continued taking art classes in oil and acrylic painting from Cochise College through the Willcox and Benson, Arizona campuses.

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In 2017, Becky retired after 30 years with the Willcox Unified School District. A friend that had retired to Tucson asked her to join her on Wednesday mornings at an Adult Community Education Program art class being taught by the Lee Sorensen Community Center using a gel plate and collage painting. The love affair with “painted paper” began! She took every class that was being offered in this area and that is where she discovered her Mentor, Elizabeth St. Hilaire. Becky began taking on-line classes. Becky also heavily explored Acrylic pouring and thoroughly enjoyed working in that medium.

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Becky’s husband retired in 2019 and they moved to Petal, MS. Becky fulfilled a dream by having a dedicated art room in their new home. In 2024, another dream was fulfilled when Becky was able to take an in-person class with Elizabeth in Italy! Since moving back to Mississippi Becky has started working with decoupage finding many items to cover, including pumpkins and furniture.

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Becky also joined OLLI in 2024 and has branched into other art media including watercolor, clock making and Trash to Treasures!

To connect with Becky, you can email her at bfortenberry@yahoo.com or text 520-507-2223.