A nearly entirely self-taught artist until very recently, Rebecca’s formal training consisted only of an adult sculpture class at the Elizabet Ney Sculpture Conservatory, and a life-drawing and figure-painting class at Laguna Gloria Art Museum School, both at age 13. In 2006 and 2007, she began a period of intense study, studying with oil painters Robert Johnson, Tom Black, Jean Chambers, David Leffel, Sherrie McGraw, & Joe Anna Arnett, & with pastelists Colleen Howe, Richard McKinley, Denise Mahlke, and Wanda Gamble.
In January 2006, she retired from commissioned work, and is now concentrating on the still life and on landscape painting. Her approach to both oil and pastel painting is traditional, in both technique and in her emphasis on craftsmanship, including the importance of using only top-quality archival materials rather than those intended for the hobbyist. She paints almost entirely from life, rather than from photography, sometimes painting larger studio landscapes from small oil or pastel landscape studies done on location.
Rebecca enjoys teaching and speaking engagements; she takes occasional private students, and is planning to teach oil painting classes in the near future. She lives with her husband and their 10 dogs in the countryside between Austin and Bastrop, Texas.
Rebecca Neef is a member of Oil Painters of America, The Outdoor Painters Society, Plein Air Austin, The Austin Pastel Society, The Central Texas Pastel Society, The League of Animal Artists, The AKC Museum of the Dog Register of Artists, and of course, The Bastrop Fine Arts Guild.
Types of Painting:
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Oil: Primarily landscape and still-life paintings executed, in the Poetic Realism- (Naturalism) style, and in the Impressionist/Plein-Air style, with a heavy emphasis on traditional (pre-modernism) artistic principles, including the importance of painting from life rather than from photography.
Pastel: Same style, emphasis, and subject matter as in Oil.
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