‘My season of originals’

Published 9:30 pm Tuesday, August 12, 2025

Artist Felicity Jones Bechtel is well known in the community for her intricately detailed doodle drawings that incorporate scenes within scenes, as well as her watercolor paintings. This year, she has been expanding her creativity by delving into original acrylic painting, finding new joy in a new medium at a new time in her life.

“Lots of people grow up drawing, but I’d say my creative journey started when I was six years old and living in Africa with my mom and dad who were working as missionaries,” she said. “During the sermons, I’d fill the blank spaces in my Bible with things I’d seen. I attribute this jump in my creativity to the lack of things we had for those three months. We were staying in an orphanage and the kids where so inventive with what was around them — like bamboo, rocks and bottles. We always had the toys we needed for our games because we’d make them. Not having electronics or other distractions allowed me to get good and bored to the point that I got very creative.”

When she and her family returned to the states, Bechtel brought that inventive and adaptable creativity back with her and it’s grown and evolved ever since.

“Pen and ink have always been my favorite medium, and I haven’t been without a sketchbook in my hands since I was seven years old,” she said. “I really liked that I could take them with me and create wherever I went. I used to draw everywhere — at parties and on planes, cars, and even on horseback. Then I got married and I noticed that I packed my art around a little less. Then I had a baby.

”My attention is divided a bit more these days, but I still draw every chance I get. I keep a sketchbook and a pencil in the diaper bag and when my little guy goes down for naps I sit down and paint a bit. My art table is in the living room of our little house, and I take advantage of creating when I can. My husband has helped me make time for my art and navigate being a mom, wife, businesswoman and artist, and our son Kennith is 10 months old and has already had a hand in adding a few colorful marks to my paintings.”

Bechtel said that the process of shifting more of her time to acrylics was organic, primarily influenced by her becoming a mother and that it has helped her create more art.

“The super compressed detailed pen and ink worked great when I had a lot of time to work on them and keep the paper white and pristine, but that all became a challenge,” she said. “Acrylic paint is quite forgiving, and I love that I can paint a little and then walk away and work on chores. I’ve also been feeling the need to push out into something more wild and colorful. Maybe because my life is more wild and colorful at the moment.”

Bechtel’s drawings included the process of creating her work followed by hours upon hours of scanning, editing and reproducing them. This year, continuing to operate her art business, FJ Creations, she has committed to embracing the limited time she has to make art to creating one-of-a-kind originals.

“I’m calling this my season of originals, and what better medium than canvas and paint?” she said. “And not only that, but if I was going to create art and focus on originals for the season, then I wanted to embrace it all the way by giving myself complete freedom to push my boundaries in subject matter, in color and in heavy textures, everything that acrylic painting is suited for.

“Finding time to create can be difficult, but moving into this season and keeping my FJ Creations business running on what I have already created helps me to embrace the season I am in with grace for myself, my family and my art.”

Through the years, Bechtel has shared her drawings and watercolors with community members and visitors at fairs like the Nutcracker Faire and in local coffee shops, art galleries and stores. Her latest exhibit of original acrylic paintings, “Finding New Joys,” is an exploration of this chapter in her creative life.

“Pink Sunset King Crab” was painted on a 16-inch-by-16-inch primed canvas that took her more than 30 hours to complete.

“I hand-sketched the design and used a heavy medium to sculpt the shell and its knee joints, so they lift off the paper,” Bechtel said. “When I finished it, as silly as it sounds, I teared up a little. I have had such a hard time with acrylics in the past, and having not touched them for many years, it felt so good to have all my learned skills come together to create something I was so proud of.”

“Chill Puffin” shows a colorful and textured puffin resting atop a body of water.

“I had so much fun with this piece,” she said. “I reworked the background and the beak so many times before I liked the color.”

“The Watcher,” depicting a colorful bear staring forward and surrounded by mountains and trees, was inspired by a story her grandfather shared.

“My grandpa told me about a bear once rearing up on its hind legs to look over the bushes at him and his horse,” she said. “I always thought that would be crazy to see, and I wanted to incorporate that stern gaze piercing the viewer as the bear towers bigger than life. I raised its ears, nose and thick fur off the canvas to help it really pop off the canvas.”

Born and raised in Homer, Bechtel’s subject matter showcases the wildlife and landscapes surrounding her.

“The mountains, the trees, the very patterns in the leaves, no matter where I go, I see the colors and craftsmanship in every fiber, cell or vein of the natural world around us and I am astounded every time,” she said.

Bechtel is currently striving to embrace freedom, texture, color and creative growth while finding a balance between her creative life and her family life. Her work can be found online at FelicityRaeJones.com and on most social platforms as @FJcreationsAK. In Homer, her fine art can be found at the Art Shop Gallery downtown and Sea Lion Gallery on the Homer Spit, and her stickers and coloring books can be found downtown at Oodalolly and Ulmer’s Drug & Hardware and on the Spit at Homer Shores.

“Homer has done a good job in creating lots of outlets for artists,” she said. “Mix in a little business savvy and you can go a long way as an artist here from a very young age.”

“Finding New Joys” is on display at the Art Shop Gallery through August.