We recently connected with Cookie Davis and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Cookie, thanks for joining us today. Are you happy as a creative professional? Do you sometimes wonder what it would be like to work for someone else?

Yes, I am happy as an artists! I worked for years in the radio/broadcasting industry as an executive. In that business it is literally all about time, 60 second commercials, news breaks and spinning records. This was back when radio was “personality” radio. After over twenty years as a vice president and traveling over several states to different broadcast sites, I walked away at the age of 58. I had been doing art for a number or years and squeezing in sidewalk art festivals on the weekends, it was a very busy time. Finally, having left the business, I had time and concepts to pursue. Fortunately at that time, for me, connecting with fine art galleries was done through the sidewalk art festivals. Gallery owners and directors came to the festival to search out talent that fit their venue, which soon lead to my being off the festival circuit.
As an artist, I was at a definite advantage having had some twenty years of administrative experience…it carried over into my “art business.”
I am currently considered basically retired. I administrate several art organizations and prepare for and enter shows in galleries up and down the east coast.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I can’t remember not doing art. I started as a sculpture working in clay and currently am exploring and enjoying rendering large acrylic works on canvas. One of my greatest joys is working with young artists or artists just starting out to help them determine the right venue for their work…not everyone should be putting it out there. Always, now and in the past unless someone purchased something right off the shelf, so to speak, I listen them. What do they want and where do they plan to install the work. Most often, this involves several discussions, a visit to the installation site, home or office and rendering of the concept. This is all done before any work on the piece is started. Remember the patron is going to live with your work for a very long time..happy patrons lead to other possible patrons.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

The most rewarding part of doing art for me, is to be invited to participate in an exhibition and to meet the challenge of preparing for a particular venue and work with their concept. I enjoy the planning, from gathering materials, to developing a timeline and the excitement of delivery and installation.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

Several years ago I fell and broke my ankle and I had an exhibition coming up at a top rate museum. I had surgery, was in a plaster cast, then foot up in a hospital bed for ten days. How was I going to complete the work, deliver the work and attend the opening? My friends brought my studio to the sunroom, set me up with everything I needed. I worked a few hours at a time. If I had charged by the hour for that work…it would have been an outrageous price. When it was finally done, with help, got it delivered and attended the opening in a wheel chair…you get lots of attention when you arrive in a wheelchair. I could have given up and called the museum, told them what happened, but I knew that I might not get this opportunity again – thanks to friends and love ones all was delivered on time and a once in a lifetime experience.

Contact Info:

• Website: cookiedavisfineart.com
• Facebook: Cookie Davis
• Other: Website Cookie Davis Fine Art. Com

Image Credits
Cookie Davis –