The Indomitable Virginia Cobb
The word indomitable popped into my head when I thought about Virginia Cobb, and all that I had seen and learned after viewing the DVD “Acrylic Abstract Painting: The Evolving Image.” Here is a woman of strength, who is audacious and adventurous enough to go wherever her art takes her. I have now added taking a course with her in Sante Fe onto my wish list.
Angel Angel ~ by Virginia Cobb (used with permission)
Cobb demonstrates how to build a foundation, then structure a painting on top of that, with a process that combines both intuitive and analytical aspects. I invited a friend friend to watch this DVD with me , and afterward she expressed my own sentiments: it was going to change the way she painted. That’s after 105 minutes. Can you imagine taking a live course from such a force of nature?
Though she has an impressive, established painting career, Cobb is not a fine art snob. She is amused by the term “decorative,” which people sometimes attribute to paintings in a pejorative manner, and may even label some of her paintings in that way. However, many paintings are purchased for living rooms and business lobbies and boardrooms: are they not being used decoratively? And what exactly is wrong with that?
At the same time, Cobb is very respectful of the images she brings into being, and the fact that they stand alone, once created: “I want my paintings to make people ask questions of themselves, not of me… to respond in some way to the image.”
I get that: I am a mother with grown up children–they came through me, but their lives and spirits are their own.
Part of Cobb’s artist statement says:
My paintings proceed much as my life has; I throw myself into each experience with great abandon, finding my way through to resolution by trial and experiment. My paintings never fail to surprise me, and I hope that will always be so. (See Angelangel, above, and more of those wonderful surprises at Creative Catalyst’s gallery.)
I love that: trial and experiment sound so much better than trial and error. I resolve to throw myself into my work with even greater abandon! Thank you, Virginia!
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