Twenty-nine years ago, Rebecca Low went for a walk that would change her life forever.
The Fort Worth-based sculptor was taking her dog, Pepper, for a walk one day in 1993 when she came across a few pieces of scrap metal that she planned to recycle.
But then something odd happened—something she had never previously experienced in her life.
She began to see objects, animals, people and patterns emerging in the refuse lying on the ground before her.
“I immediately went home and signed up to take a welding course with what was TCJC back then,” Low said. “What I decided was I liked it so much, I wanted to do it for a living. I worked in a little hobby shop for about three years, and then I made that decision...and the pieces would always tell me what they wanted to be.”
Until then, Low had enjoyed a successful career in interior design, where she had worked for more than two decades with a great sense of satisfaction.
In spite of her successful career as an interior decorator, however, Low said there was no hesitation on her part to change course and embark upon her new life as an artist.
“Anytime I’ve made a move, I don’t look back,” Low said. “I miss the people and things like that, of course. But when I make a decision, that’s my decision.”
Rebecca Low Sculpture Gallery Inc. includes multiple galleries and sculpture gardens and is located at 7608 Camp Bowie Blvd. in Fort Worth.
The Missouri native graduated from Iowa State University with a degree in applied art with an emphasis in interior design and practiced interior design in Nebraska and Texas for 25 years before opening her gallery in Fort Worth.
Low, 70, said the Fort Worth area, where she has now resided for the last 35 years, appealed to her for a couple of reasons.
“I love the people, and I love the arts,” Low said. “And I mean all of the arts. We have like 15 live theaters in Tarrant County. That’s a passion of mine. I just want to be entertained. It’s having these incredible museums and then having such fabulous galleries and with such diversities of arts amongst them all that makes it so special. It’s just a joy to live here.”
Low’s sculpture galleries contain freestanding sculptures, wall and floor sculptures and water features. The works shown are created by more than a dozen different artists. She says commissions are welcome.
“I have an incredible show going on now,” Low said. “I mean an incredible show.
“You’ll see a pink elephant in the gallery. As an example, on one gallery night when people bring me things, if they have children they will let their children bring them to me. So there was a garage door spring roller that they had just taken off that day and it was still a little greasy. This 5-year-old is holding it out to me and he says ‘Ms. Low, do you think there is anything you can do with these?’ I said, ‘Well my gosh that’s an elephant’s trunk and his beady little eyes. That’s what I’m talking about. It already tells me what it’s going to be.”
Her gallery’s exhibition started in September and will continue through March of 2023.
Low plans to continue to help promote other sculptors’ artwork as well as continue to create her own work for as long as she is able.
“My art is very diverse,” Low said. “I create what I see. When I look at what many people call junk, I may see all kinds of things – very much like seeing faces or objects or landscapes in the clouds. Empty space is filled when I see it. Then I either take found objects or raw metal or both and often combine them with paint, water, rock, glass, fire or any other material to help me create my vision. My attempt is not to try and control – I let the visions and materials control themselves, my work and me.”
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