Today we’d like to introduce you to Emily Cooper.
Emily, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
I started drawing and painting at a very young age. The first time I realized I wanted to be an artist was during an assignment for my eighth grade art class. We were told to reproduce any famous painting of our choice, and that’s when I fell in love with Van Gogh. I felt something in me come alive while working on the final touches of my Starry Night rendition. Copying the dynamic brushstrokes of such a great work I felt something of the soul behind each mark, of the awe in that scene that inspired him, and I was hooked. I opened my own decorative painting business in high school, painting murals and bespoke works for homes in my neighborhood.
I majored in Visual Arts in college where I was lucky enough to work with the likes of Michael Kolster, Anna Hepler, James Mullen, Carrie Scanga and John Bisbee. The latter, Bisbee, is an eccentric, talented, passionate artist who inspired me to work in new ways and “color outside the lines” for the first time. I’ll never forget the “click” that happened for me when he asked if he could buy a piece of mine during an exhibition, and when he invited me to join him and 12 other artists in a crazy summer experiment that would change my life.
After graduating, I joined Bisbee and 12 others in a collaborative art project on a saltwater farm in Gouldsboro, ME that was owned by Burt’s Bees founder, Roxanne Quimby. I credit that summer with shaping much of who I am today as a person and as an artist. It was the launching pad of my adult life. I learned how to work hard and how to hold myself accountable. I was challenged to step it up, be a better collaborator, and to find my own voice. I’m forever grateful for the lessons I learned there. I was a native midwesterner but after that summer I planted roots in New England.
Today, I run my own art studio out of a car garage in my apartment complex. I’ve learned it doesn’t matter if you have a thousand square feet or a studio apartment, you can make art happen. There is always a way, if you have the will.
Has it been a smooth road?
There are so many fears and doubts when it comes to the arts – it’s certainly not a course with a clear-cut route to success. Sometimes I fail. Sometimes I try something and I lose money or lose faith. Sometimes I don’t have the confidence or the energy or the courage. My husband keeps me going, though. I often forget to take the time for myself, but he’s gotten really great at reminding me.
We’d met through my YouTube channel and became pen pals during his 9 month deployment to Afghanistan (he was in the Army). We happened to be based out of the same city when he came home for R&R, and when I met him, life as I knew it was over. He was it. He was stationed in Texas upon his return. We dated long distance for a year, flying back and forth between Boston and El Paso each month before I moved there to be with him for his final year in the Army. My family and friends didn’t necessarily understand or agree with my decision – they didn’t really know him at the time – but I felt in my gut I had to go. It was really tough. We scraped by, and those were some really difficult days that challenged the very fabric of my sanity, to be honest. Some days I’d felt I’d found the limit.
I was alone a lot – working part-time and missing him during long trainings. I had few friends, and was unsure what I wanted for myself out of life. One day, in a stroke of genius/thoughtfulness, Evan bought me an easel and some brushes and I found myself painting again for the first time in ages. Thus began my bear series. To finish a painting and laugh… art can bring such joy. In the end, I have no regrets.
So, as you know, we’re impressed with Art by Emily Cooper – tell our readers more, for example what you’re most proud of as a company and what sets you apart from others.
I sell original paintings (acrylic on canvas), as well as greeting cards and occasionally small ornaments, trinkets or sculptures. I paint all manner of flora and fauna, though I specialize in comical portraits of bears in clothing, flower crowns, or replacing the prominent figures in famous portraits such as the farmer and his wife in “American Gothic.” I’m proud of my business because it’s quirky and full of joy. In a world that wants to make a cynic of us, I seek as much whimsy, and spread as much kindness and happiness as I can.
Let’s touch on your thoughts about our city – what do you like the most and least?
Boston is chock full of talent! There are so many things I love about Boston as well as the city where I live, in Salem. They’re alike in that they both have these vibrant underground art scenes that I have a feeling will keep on growing. I just attended the most inspiring conference at the Cabot theater in Beverly for something called Essex County Creates and was awestruck by how many other creatives were in the room from all over. To connect and share resources and support is the dream and they’re doing that! I highly recommend everyone check them out at www.essexcountycreates.org. It’s reenergized me and helped me connect with some fascinating, intelligent, motivated people who want to lift their communities up through the arts.
I’m also grateful for the other ways in which Boston and its surrounding cities make space for the arts. The last job I held was based in Boston/Cambridge. I worked in a more corporate though extremely innovative and forward-thinking environment. I was given the leeway to start an Arts Committee with a few other passionate creatives, and we brought in local artists to exhibit. We planned creative events for the community and connected people across disparate industries to the arts. Eventually, I directed this team on the day to day. Our crowning glory was in running an annual suite of events in conjunction with ArtWeek Boston that drew thousands of visitors. I love that such an extraordinary, enormous, diverse, inspiring, and fun arts program exists in this city. Those folks are fabulous to work with (hi Kelly!).
As for dislikes? The only things I can think of are the traffic, the reliability of public transportation, and the fact that it can be very hard for a midwestern expat like me to get accustomed to less forthright friendliness in general. That kind of friendliness you have to earn, and if you do, boy is it worth it.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.artbyemilycooper.com
- Email: emilyjoancooper@gmail.com
- Instagram: @art_by_emilycooper
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/artbyemilycooper
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