Today we’d like to introduce you to Joyce Coco.
Joyce, before we jump into specific questions about your art, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
I was not exposed to art until I was married and moved to San Antonio where I helped raise my younger sister through her high school years. I had been high schooled in a very small community in Texas that offered little in the way of art. My sister’s immersion in the arts so perked my curiosity that I later took private lessons in Houston. When I moved to Denver, I studied art with Edith Niblo at the Emily Griffith Opportunity School and never looked back. Eventually, I graduated from the University of Denver with a Bachelor’s degree in art. I have been painting, printmaking and sculpting since the 80s.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
The greatest hurdle I faced in becoming an artist was finding a proper teacher. In the first class, I took in Houston Texas the teacher seemed more interested in commercial success than artistic integrity. He would literally paint on a student’s painting. He was also a brat; when he wanted to improve a student’s painting by painting on it, he would throw the student’s brush across the room if we’re not perfectly clean. The second teacher I studied with was a fine painter but a poor teacher. His classes were more socially oriented than professional. Good coffee and convivial conversation were as important as good advice about the technical aspects of painting. It was not until I studied with Edith Niblo in Denver that I felt I’d found someone who both educated and inspired me. She understood color and design and was able to impart her understanding. Her enthusiasms and loves were contagious, and I studied with her until she retired. I think about her to this day.
Another struggle concerned my move from representational art towards abstraction. My greatest support always came from my husband, and as my work became more and more abstract, he had a hard time seeing its merit. Fortunately, while visiting New York, he saw a Mark Rothko exhibition that opened his eyes to the validity and powers of abstraction and came back around to wholeheartedly backing my pursuits.
Perhaps my greatest struggle has been with “the gallery scene.” I’ve had ups and downs with relationships with galleries. Often galleries, for sundry reasons, close. The owner might decide his or her real estate is worth more than his business. There are other problems endemic to the business of art; for instance, once a gallery begins selling your work, they don’t want you to change what you’ve been doing. They want more of what had sold, not a new style of work. “Your red period work is popular, they say, keep painting red!” Once a niche has been established, the artist should continue filling that niche for the sake of salability. Exploring new realms is not in the gallery handbook. Galleries also want a percentage of everything you sell even if the sale had nothing to do with the gallery. At this point in my career, I have little to do with the commercial art gallery world, because, simply said: All I want to do is paint.
We’d love to hear more about your art.
I am an independent sole practitioner of art. I paint to please myself, a rule of thumb that encourages me to keep on painting. Secure in my knowledge of the worth of my art, I worry not whether or not it will sell. I am a long-time member of Spark, a cooperative art gallery, where I exhibit my work on a yearly basis. I also exhibit my work when invited.
To view a short film about my work please visit YouTube at:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rrAuobuJcLs&t=451s
Contact Info:
- Website: www.joycecoco.com
- Phone: 303-810-7090
- Email: artist@joycecoco.com
Image Credit:
Photos by Marcia Ward/ImageMaker Denver
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