BECKY SCHAFFER
Becky, the creator behind Birch Bones Art, is a psychologist and printmaker whose work is an attempt to blend her love of the human experience with her awe of nature. Inspired by the oneness of humanity and the natural world, Becky’s prints show how we can use connection to fuel kindness and appreciate existence around us. Although she just relocated to Berkeley, CA from Allston, the neighborhood was her home for some of her most formative years and her time there greatly informed her identity and her art-making.
Instagram: @birchbonesart
Pick up this print aT THE Harvard Science & Engineering Complex
ARTIST Q&A
Born: New Haven, CT
Currently lives: Berkeley, CA
Title of artwork: Hurting is Healing is Hurting is Healing…
What’s it about? A friend of mine once wrote, at a time I really needed to hear it, that “without hurt you can never heal, and you can never be healed if you were never hurt in the first place…it is beautiful that I am hurting while simultaneously healing”. This illustration of balance can also be applied to life and death within nature; without death, ending, and decomposition, new life could never be created. I was fascinated by this cycle and turned this dialectic into a giant, 32″ x 42″ woodcut that I printed in conjunction with BIG INK Prints in fall of 2020.
Where else can we find your work? On my Etsy (through birchbonesart.com) with updates on my instagram (@birchbonesart)
Where is your favorite public art piece in the area?
Sophy Tuttle’s gigantic mural on the building on Western Ave! Always in awe when I walked by
Who is your favorite Boston-area artist to follow? Sneha Shrestha (@imagine876) and Noah Grigni (@noahgrigni) have both inspired me and taught me a lot
What would your last meal be? An authentic New York style bagel
If it was your turn to host book club, which title would you choose? Slaughterhouse Five by Kurt Vonnegut
Favorite place in Allston/Brighton for takeout?
Grasshopper! One of the things I miss most about the neighborhood
What have you learned about your creative practice in recent years? Like everything else in my life, my art-making is directly correlated to my mental health. It’s okay if things take a long time sometimes! There is no one right way to be an artist.
