THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, September 15, 1996 TAG: 9609120171
SECTION: CAROLINA COAST PAGE: 28 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: Mary Ellen Riddle
LENGTH: 60 lines
Gail Cohoon says she's a receiver of glory: the glory bestowed upon us by God and nature.
She deposits this glory in her spiritually bred watercolors.
Cohoon's not a Bible thumper by any means, though her painting titles reflect biblical passages. She just wants to give credit where credit is due.
``I think art is a vehicle of God's light,'' she said. ``We only see color to the extent that light penetrates it.''
Cohoon was born and raised in Columbia, N.C. The little town is only about 40 miles from Manteo's The Frame Shop where she's showing her work until the end of the month.
Her mother was an artist. But Cohoon, though intrigued by art, avoided getting attached to it early on. ``Mother majored in art in Meredith in the 1920s. But I wouldn't touch it,'' she said. ``I had to grow up.''
Cohoon earned a master's degree from the College of William and Mary in guidance and counseling. She's a 31-year veteran from the Chesapeake, Va., schools. While she says she ``doodled'' her way through high school and college, it has only been during the last 10 years that she's settled down and gotten serious with her medium.
Watercolor classes helped give her courage to pursue her own style. She studied under Zolton Zabo, Ed Minchin and Margi Wynne. ``I've done the best work I've ever done under Margi Wynne,'' she said. ``Margi Wynne's class was a spiritual kind of thing.''
Cohoon's wet-on-wet painting style stretches from realistic to abstract. But she's most comfortable with the semi-abstract. ``I like the undefined looseness of it while one still has a grasp of the core,'' she said.
Cohoon loves to travel and creates watercolor memories of scenes from the world over. She paints large and small, depicting Pueblo structures in Taos and Newfoundland skies. Her mostly abstract mini watercolors comprise an impressive traveling monologue.
These little beauties are the hit of the show. The compositions are strong. Her colors run the gamut from saturated vibrancy to translucent earth colors. Some of these small works resemble botanicals originating, believes Cohoon, from years of loving nature.
Cohoon is no longer afraid of art. Nature guided her well. She brings a tenderness to her canvases, carressing poppies, Northern lights, pueblos and memories.
She exhibits more mature works with ones she readily admits aren't so hot. But she explains that just as her creator loves her fallible nature, so does she love her more unpolished watercolors. ``The passion of God's love,'' expresses Cohoon. ``I want to be a vehicle for that love. I want it to come through me.''
Cohoon's passion has definitely left a paper trail. Stop by The Frame Shop in downtown Manteo for a trek into her glory land. The Frame Shop is located at 100 Old Tom St., 473-1929. ILLUSTRATION: Photo by MARY ELLEN RIDDLE
Artist Gail Cohoon loves to travel and creates watercolor memories
of scenes from the world over. She paints large and small, depicting
Pueblo structures in Taos and Newfoundland skies. Her mostly
abstract mini watercolors comprise an impressive traveling
monologue. by CNB