Rebecca King
- 2 days ago
- 3 min read
Rebecca King is an abstract painter in San Antonio, Texas, who works with acrylic inks and water. She trained in design and architecture, and her painting grew out of breaking free from all that structure. Now the process is intuitive: she pours thin washes of ink and follows where the water wants to go, only partly steering it. Water is tied to her faith, and to the idea that the work is about more than her. A painting usually starts as a Texas waterway, then loses its horizon and turns abstract. Her next collection is about the hidden water beneath the coast.
Q: You worked in design and architecture before painting. Is that still with you when you paint?
A: My process and style were really born from escaping the structure of the architectural world. I'm very passionate about it, but I felt a stronger calling to pursue my art. The conceptual process was heavily ingrained in me, but now it's evolved and become something more intuitive, less strict. There's a certain point where I just have to stop thinking and deeply feel, allowing the vision to surface.
Q: Your paintings come straight from local Texas waterways. Why water?
A: Water is so much more than just the medium I work with. It's a conduit for life. It's also heavily tied to my faith and the work being about more than just myself; it's about connection and belief.
Q: You build the paintings in layered washes of ink. When do you know one is done?
A: I'm always searching for something through my art. I know a piece is finished when I step back and feel an experience with it. When it's not just about its beauty, but also a narrative woven through.
Q: You call the process a back and forth between surrender and control. How does that play out day to day?
A: My work tends to mirror life in many ways that I didn't quite understand at first. But now I realize how my art acts as a metaphor. If I control the water too much while painting, it won't become what it was meant to be, and if I just pour and don't guide it, it lacks meaning. It's about balance; everything needs balance in life.
Q: Your paintings aren't about a real place, more about how it feels to remember one. What draws you to that?
A: I think my art always begins with a place I'm familiar with, then it morphs. The horizon line slowly fades and weaves into abstract form. It's a play on how memories fade within us and become something else entirely. The connection between abstraction and landscape is where my work lives. I'm always questioning: at what point does the landscape become abstracted? At what point does a memory become a feeling?
Q: What are you working on right now?
A: I'm currently building a summer collection that will release soon. It's heavily inspired by local Texas coastlines. More specifically, I'm focusing on the pathways of water beneath the surface, the way they intertwine and connect. Something that isn't always seen but is deeply felt.
