June Artist of the Month
Meet Cora Ainge
When did you start painting and what do you love about it?
It wasn’t until my early 30s that I first picked up a paint brush. In an attempt to survive being cooped up with young kids during a particularly harsh Boston winter, I grabbed some cheap paint, brushes and canvases at a craft store one afternoon. As I sat with my boys at the kitchen table painting, I was surprised by how relaxed I felt and how quickly the time had passed. I remember putting my kids to bed that evening and rushing back to the kitchen to paint again. I loved it and painted hours into the night without realizing it.
My dad had tragically died 3 months prior in a car accident at the age of 58. Still very much buried in grief, I found myself turning to the little painting station I’d set up in the kitchen. Each evening after my kids were in bed, I’d quietly paint and began to realize it was giving me a much needed break from the sadness of losing my dad so suddenly. The process of painting had a way of sucking me into a state of flow that was incredibly healing.
As time went on, my love for painting grew strong. I was so thankful for YouTube because I felt like I could learn how to paint just about anything – all I needed was my iPad, painting supplies and a cup of tea. I did every demo I could find!
It wasn’t long before I was deeply in love with painting and I remember how the world around me had turned into a palette of paint. I couldn’t help but look at trees and sky without color mixing in my mind. I began to appreciate color (and the world around me) in a whole new way – there were suddenly so many fun little color puzzles around me, all the time!
The joy of color theory was one thing, but what I was completely mesmerized by, was light. Like a moth to a flame, I obsessed over the powerful effect light had on what I was painting. Playing with light is how I learned to infuse my paintings with mood and atmosphere. Not to get too annoyingly “artsy” here, but once I figured out how to paint light, I started to actually feel, dare I say a bit of “emotion”, when I looked at my paintings (ew gross, sorry). But, it’s true! Sometimes the most simple wisp of light can take a painting from stale to serene and that’s what draws us in!
After some time, and through much trial and error, I began to churn out original paintings. I’d hang paintings on my walls and soon I was painting for friends and family. Like most artists starting out, I remember being absolutely floored when complete strangers were willing to give me real money in exchange for my art. What?! I don’t think the shock of that will ever wear off. After some encouragement from loved ones, my little LLC was born and I couldn’t be happier.
What do you like to paint and what are you currently working on?
I paint a lot of flowers and landscapes (golf courses, in particular), but what I’ve really been loving to paint lately are ballerinas. I had a solo show of ballerina paintings last year and I loved painting them so much I’ve started working on a second series.
Strangely enough, however, some of my most enthusiastic buyers are golfers. I saw there was a hole in the golf painting market when I noticed how giddy my golf-obsessed husband and his buddies would become when chatting about their golf outings. But what I didn’t expect was that most of my golf paintings would actually be purchased by women who came to know my work because they saw my flowers or ballerinas – turns out a lot of them are also married to golf nuts and golf paintings make great gifts. Works for me!
Follow Cora on Instagram @coraaingeart