MARILYN COE HOCKING

                                                      About the Artist

I was born and grew up in the bayou country of southern Louisiana and lived almost half my life in and around Houston, Texas.  For almost 15 years now, my family and I have been blessed to reside here in the beautiful Pacific Northwest on a small rural acreage just outside Ridgefield, Washington.  It is true what they say here in Ridgefield—this really is our little corner of Paradise.

As a former junior high school teacher, I am essentially a self-taught artist, having been exposed to only a trace of art instruction in college while earning my education degree.  While painting has been my lifelong passion, it often took a back seat to the more practical matters of managing a home and family.  Having “retired” from teaching and rearing children, I have thrown myself back into art with a new seriousness of purpose. A recent battle with breast cancer (quite victorious!) has taught me never again to put off till tomorrow anything that calls to be created today. Consequently, it has only been for the past few years that I have offered my work for sale to the public, currently available through several area galleries and shops. Amazingly, my paintings now hang in quite a number of private collections throughout the US and even Europe, as well as in several local corporate and public collections.  My philosophy: “If one man can, then any man can!” That goes for creating art as well as battling a daunting foe like cancer.

My style of painting, whether employing oils, pastels, or colored pencil, is certainly a form of realism, but I generally do not strive for a photo-realistic result.  I prefer to think of it as “realistic idealism.”  I think of my objective when painting as an attempt to shine a spotlight on some small slice of life, generally viewed as ordinary or mundane, and perhaps re-framing it as something in which to rejoice.  Hopefully the viewer will see the tiny, everyday miracles that I am trying to acknowledge.  The subjects in my work reflect the loves in my life, which in turn, often reflect the old Cajun culture and traditions which flow in my veins—love of Nature and all things Outdoors, Gardening, Great Food (cooking and consuming!) and Celebration of Family.

I am truly honored to share my work with you and hope that in viewing it, you will find something that somehow brings a warm smile to your heart.