We recently connected with Monica Cowsert and have shared our conversation below.

Monica, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today I’m sure there have been days where the challenges of being an artist or creative force you to think about what it would be like to just have a regular job. When’s the last time you felt that way? Did you have any insights from the experience?

I love being an artist. I love being my own boss. I love that I can be grubby at work and listen to music or books while working. I love the smell of paints and all the smelly paint things they say not to smell. And, I am happy being an artist…but it’s not as easy as it sounds. Also, I am a terrible boss.

I used to own the cutest retail store, and people would always say…how much fun. You get to go to market and shop for all these neat gifts and clothing items. It was amazing…but it was also paying for those things and setting budgets and being ready to work weekends and holidays. It was hoping the weather didn’t keep people away from your events. It was a huge learning experience in budgeting, marketing, buying, displaying, running the show….but it came to an end when I sold it and moved away. You can’t really take a store with you.

I used to own a wedding and event venue, and people would always say…how much fun. You get to help brides with their big day, or have this amazing place for other parties as well. And it was also fun….but unbelievably stressful. Brides, weather, capacity of the venue (fire marshall who was watching this), wear and tear, crazy guests like the ones who took my finches and all their babies home in a Folgers coffee can! The place was called the Bird’s Nest…we needed those birds! It was wonderful and I loved and learned so much, but it was full of stress for me. It also came to an end when I sold it and moved away. You can’t take a wedding venue with you.

Many things happen in life like being a mom, adapting to moves and a family of schedules, and you can lose a little of yourself along the way. I say this because I think people think it’s a terrible thing to admit. How could being a wife and stay at home mom have stress and lack of satisfaction? How could your perfect family not fill you up? How would you ever need for more? But I did…I was so happy and so needing more, and that is an odd place to be. I needed to be all things for many people. I needed to put others ahead of me…which we always learned in church camp! “I am third” was the motto. Well, turns out I was fourth to things that just didn’t matter to me, like making sure the soccer team had the right snacks after their game, or being on an auction committee for this, or losing your religion trying to get the family to church every week. I say these things not because any of them are bad, but I think it is okay to just need more out of life.

Art is my more.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

Getting into painting started off as a hobby and a time all to myself for a few hours a week. Taking it to the next level was a big step because you know you are going a direction that is expensive, offers no guarantees financially, and puts a part of you that is sometimes easier to just hold close and safe.

I took a class about art marketing that said if you don’t market yourself you are pretty much just painting as a hobby…and it is so true. What company would work hard to make a product and hope people came to find them. It just doesn’t work that way. You have to put yourself out there and it feels weird. I see why people find representation in a gallery. It is easy to brag and toot horns about other people – I can do it all day and mean what I say; but saying the same thing about myself just seems from a Southern girls perspective a bit hoity-toity! Highfalutin! Haughty! It just isn’t right…but being that this is what I do for a living, I had to get comfortable opening my doors via social media or in my actual studio.

When people come into my studio I want them to feel something. They always say there are five senses…seeing, hearing, smelling, tasting and touching. Maybe in a way I want people to feel all of that when they come into my studio. Well…not sure about the tasting part (although I always have delicious snacks at events), but the rest of them I like to cover.

Seeing…pretty easy. My art is pretty bright – which means it is not for everyone. Who cares. I’m not supposed to create for everyone! Do you know how boring it would be if we all liked the same art! Hearing…well, I’m a musician also so music is pretty much always going on in my studio. Music sometimes sets the mood for a painting and you can feel it in its calmness or maybe it just might be a Lizzo painting! Smelling…well there is no going to a studio without smelling the oils and solvents that go into making the art on the walls. Taste…not so much. But touching…absolutely! I paint thick and chunky and messy. This may be the best of the five senses because unless the paint is still wet (and you should always ask!), or your hands are dirty, you can absolutely feel the art. By feel here, I mean touch.

But the feeling I am talking about isn’t really one of the senses but more of the feeling you get when you experience art. It should move you, or remind you of a happy place. It should bring you joy and a smile. That is what I mean by I want people to feel something. I honestly don’t care so much if they like my art, but I do care when people come to see me, that they leave happy, with a feeling that they just left a place they would want to come back to and feel again the art took them if just for a moment, someplace else.

How can we best help foster a strong, supportive environment for artists and creatives?

I love this question that threads creatives together with non creatives. Be curious about each other. Ask questions. Learn. It’s what we do all the time, as we don’t mind telling you things…just like if I find out you are a pilot I will want to know what a rainbow looks like from the cockpit, or if you are a nurse, what do you think about vaccines or palliative care. If you are a stay at home mom, how do you juggle the kids, if you run a non-profit, what do they do in the community. If you are looking for a job, tell me your field and let’s try to connect you with the right people. You see, just be curious about each other. We are alike on many issues, we just come about things differently.

Our community is very supportive of artists, but sadly if you live in a city, studio space is extremely expensive…as are the materials. While the pricing of original art or prints from artists might be higher than if you buy a mass print canvas at say World Market, you are investing in something of value and also a living artist…I love the quote by who knows who…”Buy art from living artists. The dead ones don’t need the money.” I think of this like I think about Amazon…buy local, support local, farmers markets, drive a little further, Mom and Pop stores, the little guy, shop small.

We need to value the community we live in. We need to support each other. We need to help our neighbors. Life should be about relationships to those around us, because at the end of the day I promise Jeff Bezos won’t show up to be there for you or anyone else. He doesn’t care if his company closes every mom and pop store around…his wallet gets fat while our locals lose their jobs. I think I am off track just a tad…but I think you get the point.

Alright – so here’s a fun one. What do you think about NFTs?

So first of all, let me stick a definition of what an NFT even is right here…copied and pasted right off of google: NFT stands for a non-fungible token, which means that hidden in those quirky artworks, there’s a unique and non-interchangeable unit of data stored on a digital ledger using blockchain technology to establish proof of ownership.

I don’t have a clue what that definition means if truth be told. But I also don’t understand crypto currency. If we went deeper…I probably don’t really know what turns my lights on when I flip that switch, or how I can dial a number and someone across the world can pick up their phone. Those later things, while I may not understand how they work, I love WHY they work. It serves a purpose for me, therefore has value. My credit card isn’t cash, but it also has value because I can use it to purchase things I need, and it represents cash that I am not currently holding.

If I went to buy a car, or even a banana, and tried to pay with crypto currency, I think I would be laughed at since who even knows what the value is, how to use it and how to actually make a transaction! I put NFTs in the same category…I don’t see the value. At All.

I don’t need to prove I own a piece of art if it is on my wall, because I can see it, enjoy it, move it, sell it. It is tangible. It is real and not trendy with blockchain technology. You can see the brushstrokes and feel the texture. And to be quite honest, I don’t want to be any part of something that is called “NON-FUNGIBLE TOKEN” Let me break down that word anyways…so non-fun is easy. No fun at all. Gible, well you wordle people can add that to your list of five letter words. I just looked it up. It means to utter taunting words. And token…is a thing serving as a visible or tangible representative. So it looks like be definition it really means a symbol of a miserable bully thing. How on earth would anyone want a part of that!!!

I have been admittedly wrong in the past, however. I recall taking a typewriter to college because who on earth would ever really use a computer? And there was the time when husband Kent made me learn how to email which made me so mad because it was so impersonal. I was and always have been a letter writer! I currently refuse to order through Amazon unless there is absolutely no alternative. I will still drive all around and be happy to pay more just to know that my local people will keep their jobs. Progress is not always my friend.

So back to NFTs. I have the view that they are trendy and like the poor souls that bought Beanie Babies to get rich and now have thousands collecting dust and can’t give them away, I can only hope those who purchase these have money to burn and are not wishful wannabe millionaires living in their parents basements.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.MCowsertArt.com
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/mcowsertart
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/mcowsertart
• Other: linktr.ee/mcowsertart

Image Credits
All good…I took the pictures!