HOME-GROWN ARTIST - Indian River Magazine

SEASON OF THE ARTSART“She captures Florida’s natural beauty with its spectacularcolors and light. Her work reminds me to be aware of theglorious environs I might otherwise take for granted.”It wasn’t that her artistic talent wasn’t noticed. “For sixkids, the highlight of the winter in Chicago was getting thatnew box of 64 Crayola crayons,” she says. “I would alwaystake out the magenta crayon and hide it. Nobody could use itbut me.”When Becht was a sophomore at John Carroll HighSchool, her art teacher, Sister Imelda Eckhoff, recognizedthat she could benefit from art classes beyond what theschool could offer.She began taking classes with noted local artist Helen Terry.“I was 16, and I would go with much older people to takefigure drawing in Palm Beach on Worth Avenue,” she recalls.She had no plans for college, but without her knowledge, hermother, Alice, and Sister Imelda put together a portfolio ofher work. She was accepted into the fine arts program at East>>—Virginia Moens, collectorBecht at work using the natural light coming through the window of her studio.“Want Wasabi” displays not only the artist’s sense of humor, but her use of subjects that have tropical appeal.68