Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Jenny Cocq. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Jenny, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Are you able to earn a full-time living from your creative work? If so, can you walk us through your journey and how you made it happen?

Being an artist is a journey. It does not have a beginning or an end. Making a living as an artist can take a few different forms depending on your personality, strengths, or ambitions. I had been an artist my whole life. It was not a lifestyle choice or a career choice. It was that “art” chose me to do it.
It is essential to note that business skills are a “MUST” unless you choose an academic path. I was fortunate to have the ability to create in various mediums, large and small. I could also imagine avenues of marketing to sell my work. Printmaking, painting, sculpture, and other mediums were always of inquisitive interest to me. I worked in most of them and sold them at art fairs, galleries, my studio/gallery, and online. Nationally and internationally. I had a gallery in Copenhagen for a bout a decade.

My determination to make a living as an artist came when I took my first portfolio to a small gallery in town when I was 16. They said “no thank you” and sent me on my way. Disappointed, I walked home and ran into a friend. He took me home to his parents, and they bought a painting, and we also had some champagne to toast. It empowered me tremendously and set an expectation that when rejected, there will be someone who does not. It also led me to sell my work personally. I had a long period of not working on my artwork when my children were small. Then, I started on a body of work and began to sell at a locally prominent art fair with “Santa Fe Society of Artists”. I had been a member of that group for almost 25 years. The galleries followed soon after. I am blessed to have worked with many wonderful people who helped to develop my work. I have worked in sculpture for about 15 years. The medium of bronze sculpture is not inexpensive to start working in. I mostly financed it by selling my paintings. That has been a long journey. Now I enjoy international recognition, and by looking back, I am grateful to have weathered the storms, and there were quite a few.

Jenny, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

My name is Yenny Cocq. I was born in Hamburg, Germany with strong family ties in Denmark. Although my immediate family members are not artists, they all have a strong inclination to be creative. In my family’s past are several known painters and architects. One great uncle worked with Mies van der Rohe, my great-grandfather had a prominent interior design business. My other uncle was a lauded goldsmith, and I enjoyed long days in his workshop when I was a teenager.

I started painting in oil at about 8 years old. My grandmother was very encouraging. Her father, my grandfather, was not only a businessman/designer but also a very skilled painter. Our house was filled with his portrait and landscape paintings.

Being a disciplined artist is important. Procrastination is futile. Allowing your inner drive to lead you into the notions of artists’ bliss by taking you on a wild ride is freeing.

Creating my series of sitting people sculptures came gradually, although the idea was firm in my mind from the beginning. It is still an evolution.
I love my “family of four with pets.” It’s my family. The sculptures were refined over time, and the concept grew. My collectors gravitated toward them, and soon I created custom family portraits in small and large. I worked with several foundries in the US, Denmark, Germany, and Thailand. I get to be intimately involved with my collectors’ marriages or important anniversaries, as well as with their growing families. What sets my work apart is the refined, modular concept of sculpture. With the least of detail, convey the most through body language. After all, it’s all about love. My brand, Yenny Cocq Sculpture was created after I realized that best business practices needed to be applied. It’s a registered trademark and copyrighted. Although my work and brand seem larger, the work is done by me and my assistant. I work with great bronze sculpture foundries and other suppliers and wonderful galleries, too. My assistant Ari and I work in the studio, and we take care of our customers and personalize their sculptures to their liking.

How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?

There are always obstacles and hurdles to navigate. To be able to pivot is essential.

Creating graphics work like Monoprints and lithographs, etchings and painting in oil was my life. As a young person, I made the mistake of sleeping in my bedroom with oil paints drying. Later, I experienced headaches, and a colleague mentioned the possibility of chemical sensitivity. I kept going because I was in denial about the fact that I was getting sick. I worked with solvents and printing inks. At some point, I could not be in the print studio without running a fever and feeling miserable. It was devastating. Then I started working in acrylics. I learned the new medium and became a working artist and instructor for Golden Acrylics, a very good fine artist paint company. Then I also used epoxy (talking about toxic). Years into it, I could not work in Acrylic any longer, and some other skin symptoms started showing. Also, my neck started hurting. What is an artist supposed to do when one spends so many years perfecting a skill, techniques, and developing a following? It was yet another period of depression. It’s similar to losing a job you love.

I have already worked in ceramic sculpture and bronze, but not seriously. Switching my medium and body of work meant starting over again. It took a while to wrap my head around it and develop a new sense of joy.

Do you think there is something that non-creatives might struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can shed some light?

Artists experience a few typical perceptions that non-artists, entitled collectors, express to them.

The well-meaning or not-so-well-meaning people in your life tell you over again that being an artist is not a legitimate choice for a profession. The emotional journey to find your way is a long and sometimes painful endeavor.

The art lover says: It must be so wonderful to be able to be so creative and have a life with all the surrounding creativity.
I say: Painting or sculpting is a fraction of the reality of being an artist. One needs to make a living, or it’s a hobby. The business side of being an artist sometimes takes 90% of one’s time. (Unfortunately)

The customer asks for a bargain after heckling for a long time, comes the switch, and he wants a more expensive piece for the same price.
I say: “Sorry, I choose not to sell it to you at this price.” I needed to learn to say no when customers were rude and asked me to go below the pain threshold. Never sell at your cost, whatever it might be. The potential customer needs to be educated that Artists are dedicated human beings and not street hucksters. I needed to learn to say “no” to rude people.

The customer seems to be a person with way too much time on their hands. They can’t decide, have you trying to please them, jump through hoops, waste your time, but then change their mind in the end. The color, the shape and whatever it is they want is not what you have.
My reply: “I am sorry, I have a meeting with a collector, who is coming to the gallery to meet me in person.
or I tell them in a way that I have more important customers, and they are not important to me right now.
I learned to cut these interactions short by referring to the gallery or to purchase online only.

The collector asks: How long did this take you?
My answer is: “All my life”
It’s not a good idea to measure an artwork by the time it took.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.yennycocqsculpture.com
• Instagram: @yennycocq
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/YennyCocqArt
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/yenny
• Other: https://yennycocq.etsy.com