ARTIST FINDS HIS NICHE
by Stan Paregien
Copyright 1986
NOTE: I conducted this interview with Wayne Cooper at his home in Depew, Oklahoma on May 31, 1986.
"An artist is primarily one who has faith in himself. He does not respond to the normal stimuli: he is neither a drudge nor a parasite. He lives to express himself and in so doing enriches the world." --Henry Miller,1945.
Wayne Cooper's mother knew she had an unusually talented child on her hands when he was in the second grade at Depew, Oklahoma. He was always drawing things, and one day the principal noticed how good they were. He gathered up a handful, took them around town and had several of the local merchants display them in their windows. That was the first of scores of one-man shows for the bashful boy.Cooper has come a long way since that one-man show in the second grade.
He studied art at Valparaiso University, at the Famous Artist School in Connecticut, and at American Atelier in New York City. His works have been exhibited at such places as Gilcrease Museum in Tulsa, Chicago Art Institute, Gallery in the Square in Boston, Pavillion Gallery in Portland, and the Carolyn Summers Gallery in New Orleans. And collections of his paintings are scattered around the world, from Japan to France, from Switzerland to Scotland, from Australia to Alaska.
"My interest in art developed mainly through my father," Cooper said in a recent interview at his mother's home in Depew, where he was born on May 7, 1942. "He used to draw pictures of horses and things like that when I was real small. I picked it up from him. I've been drawing as long as I can remember."
The tall, lean artist says he had no art courses at all in high school because none was offered at tiny Depew High School.
"Back then, I just did pencil drawings of cartoons and cars, typical high school stuff. I played baseball and basketball and made good grades in courses I liked, like history, but I had no guidance for my interest in art."
That changed, however, when he went off to Valparaiso University.
"Richard Cameron, an art professor there, had a large influence on me. At that time I was quite bashful. He understood my problem, coming from a small town and so forth, and he was very patient with me. He'd stay after class and help me, and he was just a very nice guy."
Wayne Cooper also studied with the Gary Artist League in Gary. He painted abstractions for many years, working for Arts International, in Chicago, from 1965 to 1967. They marketed his and other young American artist's works through 35 galleries across the country.
"With Arts International, I'd paint like crazy all week. At that time I was doing impressionistic barn scenes, a lot of pallet knife and large brush stroke things. I got $12 to $15 for a 24 x 30 inche painting. I made enough each week to survive, and it helped get my name around to galleries from Los Angeles to New York. People began to see 'W. Cooper', the way I signed my paintings back then, showing up regularly. Even today, almost every time I have a show someone will walk up and ask me if I am 'W Cooper'. So it definitely helped me," he said.
He began signing his paintings with his full name when he left Arts International in 1967, largely because his mother argued that no one would recognize him as 'W. Cooper'.
From 1967 to 1971, he crisscrossed America following the art fair circuit.
"That was a real rat race," Cooper said with a sigh. "I'd do two or three in one state and move on to another state, right across the country and back to my home in Indiana. I was still doing some impressionistic painting, but I was leaning more toward realism. And I was starting to do a lot of rural scenes and a few westerns."
In 1972, he got a contract with Circle Gallery, Ltd. Circle was an established organization with galleries in Chicago, New York and Los Angeles. They handled fine art, paintings, and lithographies for artists like Jamie Wyeth, Peter Hurd and Norman Rockwell.
"At that time I was living in New York and doing mostly New England scenes -- lighthouses, farms, boats and so forth, mainly in opaque watercolors and acrylics. But I also did some 30 lithographs, four of which were marketed by American Express to all of their credit card holders. And I got to work side-by-side with people like Jamie Wyeth, Peter Max and Don Kingman. I just loved it," he said with deep feeling.
However, his contract expired in 1979 and he decided to go out on his own and do what he really wanted to do.
"That was western art," Cooper said. "I think my study of abstract art helps me today, because the factors of color, composition and design -- those things stressed in abstraction -- are also the fundamentals of all styles of painting. It is just as important in a western painting, done with realism, as it is in an abstract piece. All of the same elements go into it to make it work."
Cooper has pursued western painting with a deep-seated love and enthusiasm.
"I've taken five workshops at Kerrville, Texas under the biggest names in western art through the annual workshops sponsored by the Cowboy Artists of America. There are usually about ten of the top western artists there, so you are exposed to several different styles of painting.
"At one time, I had become very tight in my paintings. I went from abstract expressionism to absolute realism, with a kind of photographic quality. And I got stale. The CAA workshops have helped me loosen-up and think about new subjects. I'm working real hard now, and painting is fun again. And, naturally, when something is fun you do better at it."
Cooper says he gets his ideas from books, TV shows, dreams, conversations, and things he sees when just driving across the country.
"Once I get the idea, I see it perfectly. I've got it all together. But I never can get it down on canvas perfectly; there's always something lacking. I guess that's good, because it keeps me working to get better."
And he does work hard at his profession. He usually gets out of bed at 9 a.m. and is painting by 9:30. Later he'll eat breakfast, then paint until 5:30 or so. After supper, he may paint as late as 2 a.m.
"That's my typical schedule six days out of seven. I don't take a particular day off, but it usually works out to about one day lost from painting per week.
"Really, I don't keep a rigid schedule. I don't paint for a certain number of hours. Sometimes I don't even know what day it is, and I usually don't care. What I'm really concerned about is painting, in becoming a better artist. And in being a great artist someday. It's my whole life."
Cooper's paintings are handled in the southwest by the Indian Territory Gallery in Sapulpa, Ok., the Galleria in Norman, Ok., and by the Holland Gallery in Kerrville, Tx.
One of Cooper's main goals is to apply for membership in the exclusive CAA organization, which currently numbers about 26 members. Some of those artists get $100,000 or more per painting.
"The CAA is more like a family than anything else, and you have to have the kind of personality that will fit in. Some guy with a smart-aleck attitude or with a negative attitude certainly wouldn't be admitted. Then, of course, you have to be an extremely g-o-o-d artist," Cooper said with a big smile, followed by a low chuckle.
This material is copyrighted by Stan Paregien, Sr.
It may not be reprinted or used in any form without
his express written permission.