Today we’d like to introduce you to Monica Cowsert.
Hi Monica, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
So much about life is about what is thrown your way and how you are able to react. They are disruptions at the time, but if you look at them later, they may have been opportunities to make a change. Maybe a forced change, maybe a lucky chance…but something was thrown in your path to create a diversion and you have a choice on your reaction.
This is where I found myself after moving to Dallas from a small community and finding myself with the rug pulled out from under me. I’m a terrible mover. My mom was given a cancer diagnosis. My kids were trying to navigate the first move they remembered. My husband was busy working and traveling. and I was left juggling a new life and it was not going well. At the time I just thought I was floundering and things would work out, but I realize now looking back that I had no support system in place. From the outside things may have seemed fine, but from the inside I was struggling.
A lifeline came when a (now) friend said she was going to teach art classes. I made a choice that put into place a new path I have been on for years now. I didn’t set out to actually BE an artist. I didn’t care if my art lined the trash bins. It was me allowing myself to have a few hours where my disruptors had to wait and I put myself first for a bit. I regained some piece of myself that I hadn’t realized I had let slip away.
The thing is, disruptors will always be in our lives. It is how we react to them that navigates the direction things go because either way, they are going to go! We may not have control over life, but we have control over how we live it.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Is there such a thing as a smooth road? I live in flat Dallas, but we make up for it in potholes. They are everywhere, unexpected, jarring, and can be damaging. They sneak up on you when you least expect it and make you wish you had worn a better bra or taken a different path. Wait…what am I talking about? My car or my life? yikes…both I guess.
Your art has to be treated like a business. A painting can’t sell unless people see it. They won’t see it if you don’t show it. You don’t show it if you don’t have a place to do that. If you don’t have a place, you can put it online. If you don’t get online and show it, it won’t be seen. If it is not seen, how can you sell it. I don’t care if it’s a piece of art or a used car or a house or a kitten. You have to get the word out and give people a chance to support, share, pass, think about it…it’s business.
Where artists are concerned, the business is also personal. We spend weeks pouring over one painting and honestly (at least for me) have a bit of a relationship with the art when we are done. Mine usually follow some story in my mind and I layer and let things show through from beneath, and they evolve just like life does. If it is a commission, I am praying over the family it is for. I have gotten mad at paintings, talked to them along the way, and we usually make peace by the end. Now you think I’m full-on crazy. like I said, it can become personal.
A smooth road should not be expected when it comes to selling art, but it also shouldn’t be expected in anything you do in life. We learn from the bumps and potholes along the way. You take a new path, avoid mistakes that are costly, come to expect challenges, and drive ahead! And for goodness sakes, wear the support bra in Dallas!
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I have my first solo show! It’s coming up in September at the ArtCentre of Plano in this amazing historic space. Look it up at www.artcentreofplano.org for details. You are all welcome to come. This has been a goal to have a body of work large enough to fill a space like this. It is also a bit like a scary dream where you worry you are showing up after having not been in class all semester and then look down and see you also forgot to get dressed. It comes with the most vulnerable feeling of wanting to do everything right, please all, make art that would fit in any home. That is impossible!
Specialize you ask? As an artist it is always fun to explore different mediums and experiment. I love working in encaustics where you get to sport a blow torch and keep the fire extinguisher close by. I sketch on a regular basis. I started out painting with acrylics and then moved to oils. I try different styles and markmaking…all this into to say it is hard to narrow down to one style or path.
I am ever so lightly obsessed with birds in my art. I can be done with a painting and sometimes they just fly in and land before I know it. They are so full of joy and simplicity and sing whether it is cloudy or sunny. I heard this quote by an unknown…”If you want to fly, give up everything that weighs you down.” Isn’t that lovely?
We all need to channel this. We can’t be filled with worry all the time. We can’t always please and in my case, make art for everyone. So I paint to joy, I paint to fun, I paint to happy. I want this to come out in what I create. My motto is “Where Art Meets Happy.” I strive for this…and if it can bring joy to the viewer then that is what I am most proud of.
What quality or characteristic do you feel is most important to your success?
Success is a funny thing. We look at the millionaire and think success. We look at the person running the show and think success. We look at the movie stars and think success. That is all outside success…and those things can be taken away in an instant.
Success is an ever changing bar to reach isn’t it…”if I only” – “once I get to” – “when I master”…we never seem to get to success because we are learning, changing and doing this life thing. Really the getting to success part is what it is all about if you ask me. I show up and learn and educate and fail and reset and keep showing up. I’m not the very best at anything I do. I’m totally okay with that. If I can succeed on the inside and be happy and content I’ll be a success.
Keep showing up!
Contact Info:
- Website: www.MCowsertArt.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mcowsertart/