We were lucky to catch up with JACKI Cohen recently and have shared our conversation below.

JACKI, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today What did your parents do right and how has that impacted you in your life and career?

This question resonated with me as I celebrated my dad’s life this month, him now being gone for more than half of my life. I was young when he passed but his strong work ethic has taught to me much during his years on this earth. He believed that you must work hard to achieve your goals. You have to exhibit initiative, self-discipline, and professionalism. You have to go above and beyond your collogues. There are no excuses, you simply get the job done, right and on time. He was a believer in continued education. Three of his sayings are still relevant decades later. 1) Work hard, play hard. 2) Work is called work because it is not play. 3) No one can ever take your education away from you. Simple yet true sayings. He led by example and these lessons have been threaded through my first career in the corporate world and my second career, life as a professional artist. Strong work ethic has led me to being disciplined creator while operating my art as a business. These qualities have helped me to be a successful and prolific artist.

The softer lesson that my dad helped me nurture and embrace is my creativity. My dad was creative and dabbled in different art mediums in his free time. My creative ability was inherited from him. This particular story is filled with love and helps illustrate of our creative bond. When I was in middle school, bold graphic striped designed bedrooms were the trend. We purchased Levolor blinds with red, blue, and yellow stripes for my bedroom window. These blinds were the starting point. Together we used a long chalk rope to generate a pattern. This pattern went 360 degrees around my room to connect the blinds. After the pattern was perfect, we painted each stripe in the primary palette to match the blinds. It was a labor of love, creativity, and bonding. That room stayed that way until my mom sold the house after the death of my father. I was long out of the home by then, graduated from college, and married. I wish I had taken photographs of that room. I live with the memories of the best bedroom in history, circa 1970’s-1980’s.

My mom, who is thankfully is still around. She complements my father’s talents perfectly.. My mom was around during my young adulthood through now. She has always been my biggest cheerleader. She gives me the push to move out of my comfort zone to move to the next challenge by the abundance of positive praise for my work. Creatively her admiration for my pieces unknowingly to her, helped catapult me to the next challenge. She often assists me at art shows, and overhearing her complimentary conversations with collectors is a most uplifting boost.

My mom has also provided me with the important most lessons regarding interpersonal relationships. My mom values family and fostering relationships. I have translated this quality into my art business in a positive manner. I strive for long-lasting relationships with collectors and potential collectors. I am not ever going to push anyone into a sale. I value the relationship and will never hard sell a customer. I strive to develop longstanding connections with my clients and that is gold to me.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

I frequently am asked how I became a full-time glass artist. This is my story. The short answer is admirer/turned hobbyist/turned professional/turned full-time second career. Originally, I started as an admirer of glass art. I would purchase glass art on vacations, at art fairs, and at galleries. I have always been fairly artistic and started taking art classes to explore my talent, classes in watercolors, drawing, etc and nothing felt quite right. I discovered a not-for-credit-stained class through a local community college and registered for the class. I learned how to cut the glass, and how to use the tools and fell in love with handling the medium. The stained glass end product felt too restrictive for my taste. The studio offered a fused glass class. That was a match made in heaven, I knew right then and there my passion had been discovered and ignited. I started as a fused glass hobbyist and took local classes a few times a month. That progressed to classes once a week, then bi-weekly classes for many years. In 2009, I incorporated to be able to start selling my glass professionally. Without my own studio and kiln, I honestly could not call myself a true glass artist and could not be very productive. 2014 my studio was built and as they say, the rest is history. My story is simple, follow your heart. I am mostly self-taught artistically. I have a business degree from Arizona State University. My background has been useful for the business side of my art. Each year I give myself artistic goals and business goals to elevate my brand. I am a true believer in branding and marketing. When someone purchases or receives a Jacki Cohen Glass Art Designs original, there is an expectation of trust when they open my signature logo bag. That impression is very important to me from the quality of my art to the quality of the promotional materials that accompany my product. Trust creates relationships and relationships create referrals. A large part of my business is based on the value I place on relationships.
I am most proud that I have created a business that I love from the ground up. I do what I love and continue to be inspired and create new art.

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

The component of being a visual artist that I did not anticipate before I experienced it myself, is rejection. A visual artist receives rejection on a frequent and regular basis. Artists apply to art shows, galleries, exhibitions and regularly receive rejection. An artist overhears rejection from customers and passerby’s looking at their art. The key is to be resilient and not take it to heart. If an artist is turned down for an art show, gallery, or exhibition there could be many possible explanations. The crucial point is to keep applying for different opportunities and not to let a particular rejection stunt your submission process.

The component of being a visual artist that I have learned is the evolution of my artist journey has improved my resilience. The longer I have been a glass artist, the more skillful and technically difficult my pieces have progressed. I have become much more efficient and confident in my ability. These qualities have blossomed into the perfect storm to produce resilience.

What can society do to ensure an environment that’s helpful to artists and creatives?

I love this question because in my view, the answer is uncomplicated, powerful, and successful. The best way to support artists and creatives is to “shop local”. Shop for gifts and art at local art shows and locally owned stores. Buy online through artists’ websites. Do not buy at chain stores or online superstore. Visit artists at exhibition and gallery openings. Go to the local Theater. Listen to live music at local venues. Buy food at farmer’s markets.
Free ways to support artists and creatives are to like, share, and comment on their social media. This is such a key factor to helping the artist by boosting the algorithm, so more people see their work. Subscribe to their newsletter and/or blog, if they have one. Old school, word of mouth, is still a very effective method of supporting artists and creatives.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.JackiCohenGlassArtDesigns.com
• Instagram: JackiCohenGlassArtDesigns
• Facebook: Jacki Cohen Glass Art Designs
• Other: threads: Jacki Cohen Glass Art Designs

Image Credits
headshot–photo cred: Lori Krenzen Photography