Hi, I’m Becca Margarette!
I’m a multi-media abstract artist living and working on the lands of the Umatilla, Walla Walla, and Cayuse people - AKA Hermiston, Oregon. If you’re not from around here, you might know us for our watermelons - we’re sort of famous for them.
Named for my great grandmother, Iva Margarette, who grew up working in a cannery for her “foster mother” in the Ozarks of Arkansas, I paint as an avenue for generational healing for myself and all the women who came before me.
Each piece allows me to express emotions, process felt memories and find freedom as I relinquish control and allow the paint to guide me across the canvas. I work abstractly as an intentional practice of unlearning the perfectionism that kept me safe as a child and for so long kept me from reaching for my dreams. But not anymore.
9 year old Becca shows off her new Bob Ross paint knife and brush set. Pay attention, and you’ll probably spot 33 year old Becca using these same tools today.
After 33 years, I’m done trying to measure up and finally ready to just be me. The measure of all my work is - does this make little Becca proud? If the answer is yes, then I know I’ve hit the mark. Every time I put paint or pastel to the canvas I show myself (big and little) that I am brave, I am capable, and I am enough. I am the artist I always dreamed of being.
My studio is the place I feel the most safe - the most like me - I dance, I cry, I yell all the words I wasn’t allowed to as a kid (mostly at my technology when it stops working) and along the way I’ve learned something very valuable - imperfect is beautiful, being human is wild and wonderful, and everything is figureoutable - and I’m determined to tell everyone who will listen.
As I explore my own newfound sense of safety, I’m interested in ways we as a society can come together to re-imagine safety in our communities, care for one another and celebrate our collective humanity. Keep reading to learn one of the small ways I’m working to build the world I want to see and how you can get involved.
Your purchase makes a difference.
Ten percent of all sales will be donated to BIPOC led and centering organizations that are doing that very work - organizations like The Peacekeeper Society who in addition to providing Indigenous youth on the Yakima Reservation opportunities to connect to their cultural traditions, also provide food and emergency supplies to tribes and others in need across the PNW including my neighbors living on the Umatilla Reservation.
Funds will also be donated to other local organizations and efforts. If you have a group or organization in mind, please feel free to drop me a line or leave a note with your purchase. It takes all of us.
Shows & Exhibitions
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Group art show hosted by The Ford Gallery in Portland, Oregon. May 5-July 23, 2023.
Becca Margarette’s original work “Free Store” was selected to be included alongside other PNW artists.
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Group art show hosted by The Dalles Art Center. June 8-July1, 2023.
Becca Margarette’s original work “Let Go” was selected to be displayed alongside other artists from the PNW.
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The 50th anniversary of the Open Regional Exhibit hosted by the Pendleton Center for the Arts opened on March 9, 2023.
Becca Margarette’s original works “Precipice” and “Golden Days” were on display along with many others from artists across eastern Oregon and Washington.
Follow along on Instagram to get sneak peeks behind the scenes and see Becca’s other projects!
