My story...

So this is my first time as a "blogger" and the set up alone was quite the experience but I think I'll get the hang of it. If you don't know me, I guess I should introduce myself...

My name is Rebekah O'Connor, I usually just go by Bekah, and I am a 25 year old 1st grade teacher assistant in lovely Wilmington, North Carolina. I was born in California, moved to West Virginia when I was 7, moved to Pinehurst, North Carolina when I was 11 and finally made it to Wilmington in 2004. I graduated high school in 2002 at Pinecrest High and had NO clue what I wanted to do so I took a semester off before heading into college and continued working at an art studio in Pinehurst, which I had worked at throughout high school. There I learned how to faux finish walls, paint furniture, murals, floorcloths, and more...anything custom a person would want, we did it!

After working there, I left home and went to Penland School of Crafts in the mountains of NC to learn how to sculpt with clay. The school isn't a college, just a pure look into the world of handmade crafts. They had courses on blowing glass, creating jewelry, making paper, welding iron, weaving textiles, and I chose sculpting clay as my "major". Well it was an adventure and although the environment was completely inspiring, the people formed quite a different crowd that I wasn't at home with...I leave it at that.

After leaving Penland, a few weeks early and eager to get home, I brainstormed with my family and we thought interior design would be a perfect fit for my future career. That way I could use my creative eye everyday and make spaces for people to enjoy living in. That's when I moved to Wilmington and went to Cape Fear Community to get my associate's degree in interior design. I have to be honest, half way through the degree I had some big doubts as to whether I'd enjoy the field but I felt I just had to finish SOMETHING and get a degree, so that's what I did.

After graduating, I got an internship with a small, local architecture and design firm. Leaving there every day left me without a sense of accomplishment or fulfillment. Unhappy but not sure where to turn to next, I went on a mission's trip to Kenya with my church, Port City Community, that summer. Our team was assigned to help teach in the orphanage we had helped build there and I fell in love...with kids and with teaching. So when I got back I decided I might want to be a teacher! Well, not wanting to dive into school again, I walked down to the elementary school a block away from my current home at the time and decided to apply for a teacher assistant position. That way I could figure out if I would want to teach, from experience, not books.

So 4 years later here I am...LOVE my job but DON'T want to teach and NEED to use my passion for art. So I got to thinking, thanks to mom, and I thought to myself...if I could dream up my future, what would I be doing? And I always come back to the same thing. I want to own my own business. I want it to be able to make anything completely custom, whether it's paintings, frames, lampshades, redoing grandma's outdated furniture, making a room special with painting techniques and faux finishes. I want it all to be unique or....unico.

The goal I have set for myself this year is to have a booth at Riverfest (an annual street fair in Wilmington during the first weekend in October). Get my name out there and show the community what I really love to do, and what I feel I am best at. So over the next 8 months I will be making all sorts of artsy things right here at home! And I want your opinions...what you would change, what you love, what you want and haven't been able to find. This is the first step to making my very possible dream, into a reality. So join with me as I walk (or stumble) down this sure-to-be adventurous road! I'm SO looking forward to your comments.