Becky Richards: How a rare disease caused an artist to emerge

Six years after coming down with CES, Becky was giving everything away, then someone suggested she should sell her creations... Photo: Dana Klein.

Becky Richards came to Park City to ski in 1978 and stayed. Originally from Oregon, she followed her brothers to Park City. She attended Westminster College and became a registered nurse. After adding a master’s degree, she eventually became the Dean of Nursing at one of the local colleges. In her spare time, she painted. 

Everything changed when Becky started falling down for no reason. An MRI revealed that she had Cauda Equina Syndrome (CES), a rare disease that affects 1 in 65,000 adults. Becky says if you are having back pain and falling down for no reason, you should seek medical help immediately, or you may end up with permanent damage. Surgery within 24 to 48 hours can prevent you from becoming disabled. In her case, it was too late. She found herself bedridden for three months and now cannot feel one of her feet and has to walk with a cane. 

During those three months, she started making beaded jewelry; this was 11 years ago. She had to retire early back then and still suffers from chronic pain, but a doctor told her to grieve over what she lost—skiing, golfing, and all the sports she loved—and it helped. This is her new normal. She teaches art classes to her grandchildren and enjoys making an expanding selection of jewelry. 

Six years after coming down with CES, Becky was giving everything away, then someone suggested she should sell her creations here or there, so she checked in with a few places. “They wanted the jewelry. I was surprised at that,” she says. She really loves making her jewelry; it gives her a sense of productivity and satisfaction.

Becky uses a lot of raw gemstones, like aquamarine, rose quartz, turquoise, and pearls and crystals, in addition to several different metals. She just started getting into using stainless steel, which has a pretty color and is lightweight. She now sells her jewelry at the Deer Valley signature store, the Kamas Bolt Ranch Store, and at Peaks Art & Frame within its Made in Park City boutique.

Becky shares, “Half the fun is shopping for the stones, which are from all around the world.” Her current favorites are Herkimer diamonds. They are double-pointed quartz crystals discovered within exposed outcrops of dolomite in and around Herkimer County, New York, so they aren’t actual diamonds, but they’re very clear. Art has given Becky Richards a new purpose in life, and she loves seeing the joy in her friends’ faces when she gives them one of her creations. She has named some of her jewelry after Park City friends; the rest fall into her Western, Beach, Classic, or Bohemian collections.