Portrait of an Artist – Rebecca Maloof: Expressive wearable art

“I love it when someone comes into the gallery and buys something, and I see how delighted they are with their purchase. I sense that they’ll love the piece or the set as much as I did when I made it.” —Rebecca Maloof

By TIM WILCOX
Special to the Alpine Mountaineer

How does a young girl who grew up on a ranch riding ponies and then horses eventually become one of the San Bernardino Mountains’ most talented and prolific jewelry artists? Once again, there’s a fascinating story to tell.

Rebecca Maloof was born and raised in southwestern Oregon—specifically, in the Roseburg area. “My family had a little ranch out in the country, and we were surrounded by ranches,” she recalls. “The thing I remember most about those early years was that I had a pony and so did all of the kids at the other ranches. Every day we’d ride our ponies and have lunch together.”

She says that “for me that was from about age 8 to 12.” Then she graduated to Arabian horses, taking lessons and showing them at equestrian events. Following high school, Rebecca went off to the University of Oregon in Eugene, where she focused on art and special education. “Of course, I took my horse, Robell, with me.”

A dominant character trait emerged at that time. She was “a gypsy at heart”. So after one year at the university, Rebecca transferred to Shasta College in Redding, Calif. There she earned an associate of arts degree in general studies. Next she garnered a bachelor’s degree in human development and social change from Pacific Oaks College in Pasadena. Subsequently, she undertook coursework at four other colleges, including classes in early-childhood development.

Rebecca acknowledges that all of this required a lot of moving around. Her simple take on those peripatetic years: “It was fun!”

She was married in her early 20s and, after living in Redding for quite a while, moved west to Eureka. There, following a stint working for the March of Dimes, Rebecca opened her own business—a store/studio called The Last Stitch, which specialized in clothing and design. Four years later, in the early ’80s when she was 26, Rebecca sold that business and moved to Southern California, where she was a store manager for May Co. and Bullocks in Palm Desert.

Her next act was as a buyer for the Harris department store in downtown San Bernardino. Now closed, that prominent business was owned at the time by El Corte Inglés, a corporation based in Madrid, Spain, boasting the largest chain of department stores in Europe. Here again her vagabond nature was fortunate. Why? Because she motored from her home in Mentone almost every week to the huge clothing mart in Los Angeles. “Ten weeks out of the year, I was in New York City,” she adds. Overall, her diverse retail chapter, beginning with The Last Stitch, extended for 12 years.

A life-changing decision

Rebecca pauses for an introspective moment, then shares: “At that point I decided to become a mom.” Today she has two grown daughters and three grandchildren. Those families live in northern California, and Rebecca is a frequent visitor.

With maternal responsibilities fulfilled, she taught in state preschools from about 2000 to 2011—principally in Desert Hot Springs and Morongo Valley. Then the gypsy in her asserted itself once again, and Rebecca moved to Idyllwild in the San Jacinto Mountains. There, in the wake of a serious broken-bone episode, she was in sedentary recovery for two and one-half years. To help her through this unwelcome phase, Rebecca began making jewelry. “I was physically challenged,” she says, “and jewelry was very manageable.”

Single at the time, Rebecca met someone online who eventually would become her new life’s partner. Retired from 38 years with the Ford Motor Company and a collector of classic cars and vintage pinball machines,. Greg lived in Running Springs. They clicked and, around 2017, Rebecca moved in with him. Impressed with her collection of completed jewelry pieces, Greg encouraged her to begin selling them. Fearful of “buyer rejection,” she resisted his prompting for a while. Ultimately, some five years ago, she joined the Mountain Arts Network (MAN) and juried into the group’s Lake Arrowhead Village gallery.

Focused on wearable art

Now it was time to take her craft more seriously than ever—namely, wearable art. Rebecca formed a company called Wild Hare Eclectic Design, then began attending art shows, looking for interesting ideas and pieces. “I’d never copy them,” she insists. “I simply valued the added inspiration they provided.”

At home in her Running Springs studio, the artist has a big window that provides lots of natural light. Seated on a swivel office chair, Rebecca is within easy reach of literally thousands of “ingredients” that she uses to create her one-of-kind pieces. “I just sit there and see what catches my eye and what crosses my mind,” she says. Then she gets to work on a necklace, bracelet or earrings, typically crafting those pieces as part of a specific and harmonious set.

Copper, brass and sterling silver are her main metallic elements. Semiprecious stones such as turquoise, jadeite, lapis lazuli, Jasper and carnelian are prominent as well. Sundry other components, including intricately carved bits of cow bone and various beads (e.g., blown glass, fused glass, rose quartz, garnet, coral, ceramic and African sea glass), are incorporated, too.

What does Rebecca view as her biggest challenge in the process? “Finding the components for each piece,” she responds. “You’d think that this wouldn’t be a problem, but when I put them out on the board and look at their exact sizes, shapes, colors and textures, it’s really challenging to envision how they’ll work together for the best possible outcome.” With necklaces and bracelets, the elements are strung together on a wire, cord or elastic.

And what’s most satisfying for her? Without hesitation, Rebecca responds: “I love it when someone comes into the gallery and buys something, and I see how delighted they are with their purchase. I sense that they’ll love the piece or the set as much as I did when I made it.”

When she’s not crafting and creating at home, Rebecca occasionally will teach art to adults at Mountain of Promise, located at the senior center in Crestline by Lake Gregory. She’s one of four MAN artists who volunteer their time to conduct these free sessions. During summer she’s among several MAN members who teach low-cost classes in a variety of art forms at the group’s Community Arts Center in Lake Arrowhead Village. Those sessions are for adults and children.

Back home in Running Springs, after being evacuated for eight days because of the Line Fire, the artist is in her primary domain once again, working on a new expression of wearable art. A Springer Spaniel named Ruby is lying at her feet, offering faithful companionship and silent encouragement. Clearly, the gypsy has settled in, happily and comfortably, for good.

The artist’s jewelry is on display and for sale at the MAN gallery on the lower level of Lake Arrowhead Village (open 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily).