by JOANELLE MULRAIN
A life-long artist, Cookie Davis is a well-known and respected thread in greater Jacksonville’s art tapestry. “Avondale Artworks Art Gallery & Custom Framing has been honored to offer for sale the artwork of Cookie Davis for more than four years. During those years, Cookie’s work has continued to evolve, with particular growth and emphasis on her paintings,” says Ken Stutes, owner of Avondale Artworks.
“This exhibition, her first solo exhibition at Avondale Artworks, offers art collectors a rare opportunity to acquire Cookie’s art from the largest assembled collection of her works. The show includes nearly 50 original paintings, and more than 20 original clay sculptures. The exhibition and sale is a retrospective of Cookie’s work, and includes artwork created during the past five years, as well as a number of pieces created especially for this show,” says Stutes.
Cookie’s figurative sculptures tell the story of an everyday moment that caught her eye–the vision of that experience is crystallized into a work of art. Glazes shimmer and engage the viewer. Clay is torn, placed, rolled and twisted off to excite the eye and bring it toward more detail. Clay as fabric, fabric onto clay, Cookie surprises the eye with multi-dimensional work using mixed media. Women sing in her sculptures, some look like they are holding hands, others look up into the sky, and some fancy themselves as if no one is looking at them – requited angels, beautifully gowned symbols of pride. She’s a virtuoso with clay.
As a painter, her strokes and colors are fluid and beautifully blended. From her husked corn and opened red pepper to her bird commanding attention, Davis uses her multi-faceted talent and discerning eye to create interest in her subjects.
“As an artist my personal reward is when people become engaged with or respond to my images, when they ask for the whole story,” says Davis. “My art is all about color, movement, messages. Stories without words. I am an observer of people, places, events, nature. I am influenced by music and by reading and research into areas of interest, and from there ideas are formed, drawn, composed and finally committed to either the canvas or to clay. Art is what I do; it is what I must do.”
Follow FOLIO!