THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, September 21, 1995 TAG: 9509200179
SECTION: SUFFOLK SUN PAGE: 16 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY LINDA McNATT, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: SMITHFIELD LENGTH: Medium: 88 lines
LOOK FOR AN element of permanency at the Olde Towne Smithfield Art Show this weekend.
You'll find it in the show itself - the eighth annual gathering of artists on the main street of this small town on the Pagan River.
And you'll find it in the work of Marc Cooper, a local, licensed professional counselor in rehabilitation for the handicapped who's a part-time artist dabbling mainly in oils.
``It is a dying art,'' Cooper said recently as he displayed the collection of detailed oil paintings he planned to feature in the show.
Had the Mona Lisa been painted in watercolors, she probably wouldn't be around today for all of us to enjoy, Cooper said.
``Where would she be? Where would we be?'' he said, sitting in the living room of his Gatling Pointe home.
Cooper believes there is a permanency in oil paintings that simply isn't found in more modern mediums like watercolors and acrylics.
``Oil is more time-consuming and more trouble than other mediums,'' he said. ``There is a depth and texture you get only in oils.''
He isn't bothered by telling anyone that he's worked on one painting or another for more than a year. It's the result that matters, and he proves it in the vibrancy and depth of the landscapes and realistic nature studies he has produced in the few short years he's been studying and pursuing his own art career.
While Cooper was growing up, his father worked as a research engineer for the Navy; his mother was an artist.
``I remember watching her paint when I was a child,'' he said.
She eventually turned to designing custom jewelry and was successful at it, and in her son she planted the desire to create.
Cooper, a North Carolina native, spent much of his early life in Bristol, and moved to Richmond in the early 1970s to work for the state as a rehabilitation counselor. He remembers picking up paints and brushes around that time - ``very briefly, very unsuccessfully.''
Several years after starting his own practice at The Vocational Company in Newport News, Cooper again turned to art.
``I specialize in rehabilitation counseling. Most of my clients are handicapped. In my occupation, professionally, I'm always dealing with people. When I paint, it is a solitary activity. It allows me to get into myself for a while.''
And it isn't unusual to find Cooper in his solitary role at 3 a.m.
``Mother painted in oils. Oils were all that I knew. One of my problems as a painter, I think, is that I'm my own worst critic. With oil, I can keep going until it's perfect. Building up layers adds texture.''
Three years ago, Cooper made the first step toward refining his talent when he started taking lessons from Richmond artist Steve Fox, then an adjunct professor at John Tyler Community College.
Today, Cooper, 52, credits his mother and his teacher for any success he's had and considers himself ``somewhere between an impressionist and a realist.''
The Olde Towne Smithfield Art Show is sponsored by the Brush and Palette Club to raise funds to hold a student art show for the county schools and to award an annual scholarship.
It will be Cooper's first showing.
``A lot of people have been pushing me to exhibit. Three years ago, it probably would have been the furthest thing from my mind. But I thought to get that feedback from others . . . ''
The show, adjacent to and in the courtyard of the old 1750 Courthouse, will be from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and noon to 5 p.m. Sunday. Awards will be presented at 2 p.m. Sunday. More than $2,000 has been donated by area businesses and individuals for the prizes.
A special memorial award will be presented in honor of Virtley Bradby, one of the Brush and Palette Club's founders in 1980.
An artist will create portraits during the show, and music will be provided in the courtyard by an ensemble directed by Willis Minga. Musician Ronnie Jones will be strolling the grounds serenading the exhibitors and visitors. MEMO: ART SHOW FACTS
What: Olde Towne Smithfield Art Show
Where: Adjacent to and in the courtyard of the old 1750 Courthouse
When: Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sunday, noon to 5 p.m.
Awards will be presented at 2 p.m. Sunday.
Whom to call: For more information, call Sheila Gwaltney at
357-6276. ILLUSTRATION: Staff photo by JOHN H. SHEALLY II
Artist Marc Cooper with one of his paintings. With oil, he says, ``I
can keep going until it's perfect.''
by CNB