THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, April 27, 1995 TAG: 9504270111
SECTION: SUFFOLK SUN PAGE: 12 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Cover Story
SOURCE: BY SHIRLEY BRINKLEY, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: SUFFOLK LENGTH: Long : 132 lines
WHEN JEAN COX begins a painting, she often chooses a subject from the countryside surrounding her historic home.
Built in 1701, ``Pembroke'' is at the end of a long country lane on the banks of the Nansemond River. And Cox has captured on canvas the beauty of the river: magnolia blossoms, irises beside the barns and the Kings Highway Bridge that can be seen in the distance.
The plantation house was built by ``Captain Jack,'' a sea captain who was given a land grant from the English king. He named his home after the Earl of Pembroke.
Featured on the Suffolk Candlelight Tour at Christmastime 1993, the house is mentioned in several books, including ``The Virginia House - Homes of 300 Years'' by Anne M. Faulconer.
``I have no studio,'' Cox said, as she led the way into her spacious dining room. ``I prefer to paint beside a window.''
Tubes of paint lay on a table, and an easel was set up beside a corner window that looks out on an expansive lawn and the river beyond.
An unfinished painting of pinks and lilacs lay on the dining table. A tea set and other items had been carefully arranged on a small round table, elements of a commissioned painting for a friend.
Watercolors by Cox entitled ``Pembroke Magnolias,'' ``Country Irises'' and ``Summer Mix'' are featured in the current exhibit, ``Botanical Art,'' at the Suffolk Museum.
This invitational exhibition was scheduled to coincide with Historic Garden Week in Virginia and the April 24 Suffolk Tour of homes and gardens, sponsored by the Nansemond River Garden Club. The exhibit will be continue through May 14.
A native of Norfolk, Cox took no formal art classes until she was married with children. Sketching was always a favorite pastime, however.
``When I was real young, I had the measles,'' she said. ``All I wanted was a pencil and pad so I could draw the Campbell soup kids on a can.''
Sketching took a back seat when Cox began to study piano at age 8 and continued lessons throughout her high school years. Then came marriage and the responsibilities of raising a family.
A resident of Virginia Beach at that time, Cox taught piano and was the organist at Bayside Christian Church for 10 years. She was also a member of the Tidewater Music Teachers Forum and the National Guild of Piano Teachers.
Five years ago, she and her husband, Marshall B. Cox Sr., moved into Pembroke. As a teenager, Cox had enjoyed visiting her aunt and uncle, then the owners.
After her move to Suffolk, Cox began art classes. One day, the daughter of a close Canadian friend asked Cox about a painting in her living room.
``She told me that her mother could paint like that,'' Cox said. ``So, I gave my friend and her children piano lessons, and she painted for me.''
It was through the influence of her Canadian friend that Cox's own artistic talent began to develop. She visited Canada twice to study watercolors with Zoltan Szabo, a well-known Hungarian water colorist.
``My life totally changed when I moved to Suffolk,'' Cox said. ``I had had 40 music students in Virginia Beach and such a busy life. I finally had time to pursue my love of art.''
Although she continued to teach music on a limited basis, Cox studied art at the Department of Parks and Recreation and at Tidewater Community College.
She became a member of the Suffolk Art League and the Elizabeth River Artists, and she helped to organize the Brush and Pallette Club in Smithfield. She has exhibited her paintings at Obici Hospital, Maryview Hospital in Portsmouth and at Nansemond-Suffolk Academy.
Cox particularly enjoys portrait painting and has decorated the walls of Pembroke with portraits of her six grandchildren and her daughter, Pam Hirsch, as a child.
Hirsch lives in Virginia Beach. The Coxes' son, Shannon, has built a home next door to Pembroke; their eldest son, Marshall Jr., is building a home on Pembroke Lane.
Twice monthly, 15 artists from Suffolk, Chesapeake, Smithfield and Virginia Beach meet in the social hall of Beech Grove United Methodist Church in Driver, to study painting techniques with Cox.
Cox and her husband, a retired food broker, enjoy traveling and have visited England, Acapulco, Santa Domingo and the Caribbean islands. And Cox's paints and brushes have traveled with her. A colorful painting begun on one of the islands rests on her easel and needs only a few finishing touches.
Cox spends much of her time working on commissioned art. One painting of wildflowers is so popular that she has done it for five clients and has orders for two more. Costs range from $50 to $350, depending on whether a painting is matted and framed.
``There is so much to learn and do,'' Cox said. ``If I go to the Driver Book Club, I want to read all the books. If I go to art class, I want to do it all. There are just not enough hours in the day.''
For the museum exhibit, Hampton Roads' artists have broadly interpreted ``botanical'' with media including acrylic, watercolor, sculpture and stained glass. Spring flowers painted in acrylics, oils and water colors dominate.
Artist Pat Bohon of Suffolk has entered two watercolors, ``Mama's Kitchen'' and the award-winning ``Begonia and Silk Shawl.''
The largest painting is a 3-by-5 acrylic titled ``Wild Flowers.'' It's painted on masonite board by Brandon Carter of Suffolk.
Vivid contemporary paintings of a daylily, cyclamen and magnolia have been airbrushed on canvas by Polly Nunn of Williamsburg.
Mary Anne Ambrose and Pat Ambrose, both of Crittenden, have fashioned a 7-inch stained-glass lamp and a mobile of stained-glass flowers and butterflies.
A metal sculpture by Sophie Sellars of Norfolk and photographs by Laura Solomon and Euel Williams of Suffolk, are also featured. ILLUSTRATION: [Cover]
[Color Photo]
A WINDOW ON NATURE
Staff photos by JOHN H. SHEALLY II
Artist-musician Jean Cox pulls from the setting of her historic
home, Pembroke, on the Nansemond River for inspiration.
``Mama's Kitchen'' is one of the watercolors artist Pat Bohon of
Suffolk is showing in the ``Botanical Art'' exhibit at the Suffolk
Museum.
Cox arranges her brushes before starting another watercolor. The
artist is shown in action on the cover in another photo by John H.
Sheally II.
Stained glass lamp
By Mary Anne and Pat Ambrose
SEE THE SHOW
What: ``Botannical Art''
Where: Suffolk Museum, 118 Bosley Ave.
When: 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Tuesday through Saturday; 1 to 5 p.m.,
Sunday.
by CNB