Life in Illustration

How Rebecca Meixner drew her way to a whimsical brand

By Liesel Schmidt

When most of us think of art, we confine our imaginations to the conventional, the highbrow, the “gallery worthy.” But art is all around us, in the clothes we wear to the buildings we walk by every day. And no matter how much we try to define it, art cannot be confined to a box—because art is so much more.

For Rebecca Meixner, art is an expression of what she sees, what she feels—and, of course, what she wants to make others see and feel. And rather than restraining that to fit inside the margins of a canvas, she sets it free to be enjoyed in ways that live and breathe.

Meixner’s canvases include stationery, shirts, pillows and calendars. Her work, quirky in design and whimsical in color, shows a looseness and an ease that makes it fun to look at, energetic and…the art equivalent of a girly cocktail or an ice cream cone. It is not serious—nor does it aim to be. Because Meixner’s impetus is to make her viewers feel light-hearted.

Much like the creatives that have come before her, Meixner has always been artistic. Beginning with her love affair with crayons at an early age, she spent her childhood covered in glue and glitter, doing art projects with her mother and sister using “every piece of nature and every type of material.” She went on to attend the Art Institute of Pittsburgh and later NYU, where she honed her marketing skills and love for art, eventually landing sales and marketing jobs that had her working on accounts for such major brands as Disney and Black & Decker.

After starting a family, Meixner became a full-time mother, which she considers the most rewarding job of her life.

“Staying home with my kids allowed me to focus on raising them while staying creative in different ways,” she notes.

Part of that was creating her own brand, aptly called Rebecca Illustrated, giving her an entire line of products that all bear prints of her works and setting them free to live out in the wild. Meixner’s favorite mediums have included watercolor, acrylic and giclée, but she discovered that she could translate those styles digitally using an iPad—which, surprisingly, seemed to give her creativity wings.

“Traveling with no mess, no setup and no limits opened a whole new world for me,” she says. “Once I started creating illustrations this way, it took off—it was like wildfire.”

The portability of the iPad also gave her a much-needed outlet during a time of extreme stress in her life.

“About five years ago, my husband suffered a spinal cord injury, and our lives completely changed,” she explains. “Art became my escape from therapy sessions, hospitals and our new reality of him in a wheelchair. I focused solely on creating beautiful, happy things—it became my way of coping. Now, he’s walking again and I’m even more inspired to keep creating.”

She captures those beautiful, happy things in a style she describes as “quirky, fun, light, airy and cute,” with a goal of giving people joy. “I want to remind people of the little snippets of life—favorite destinations, pretty things and fun, beautiful moments,” she says. “For me, it’s all about surrounding myself and others with happiness. I love to stand back and hear people describe it as pretty, cute or relatable. It always makes me smile. It’s not overly complicated, and that’s what makes it fun. I love seeing how others interpret and connect with it in their own way.”

While Charleston is a great source of inspiration for Meixner’s work, travel opens up her imagination the most.

“I love sketching what catches my eye while I’m out exploring and then finishing the piece somewhere relaxing,” she says. “It’s a blend of therapy and work—an escape and a creative outlet all in one. When I’m working, I love anything travel-inspired—pieces that are loose, imperfect and a little crazy. I also enjoy creating fun, trendy works that feel light and joyful.”

Whether hung in a museum or printed on a shirt, art is valuable in what it gives the world, what it provides for both the artist and the viewer.

“Art is therapy,” Meixner says. “It doesn’t have to be perfect—its value lies in the process. The time you spend creating, zoning out and maybe even laughing is the real magic. It takes you away from life’s stresses and gives you a way to connect with something joyful and meaningful.” ϒ

In addition to her online store, Rebecca Illustrated has her own store inside the historic Mills House Hotel in downtown Charleston and is in around 30 locations locally including The Visitors Center, City Market, Nathaniel Russel Museum, Aiken Rhett Museum at local boutiques Boutique Charleston, Millie Lynn, The Happy Southerner, Lizard Thicket and nationally in TJMaxx/ Marshalls US & Canada, Altard State, The Paper Store, Kitson Beverly Hills and more. Learn more at www.rebeccaillustrated.com and follow along on Instagram  @Rebecca.Illustrated