Beckman attended Northern Illinois University and went on to study art at Columbia College in Chicago. Creative spacing of classes allowed her to wallow away hours at The Art Institute of Chicago, across the street from the campus. Here, she drew inspiration from masters such as Chagall, Picasso, Matisse, Pollack, and Kandinsky, and shares with them a passionate palette, a love for abstraction, and a desire to dissect the complex into the basic.

Her work has always been a visual dance, a symphony for the eyes, but her medium for expressing that message has changed throughout the years. Paint, charcoal, pastels, fibers all took a backseat when Beckman discovered her passion for glass. Currently, she resides in Arizona where she balances her career and family, switching from Mom to Studio Artist as the school bus pulls away, then back to wife and mother in time for dinner. Her works can be found in collections and premier galleries across the United States.