Today we’d like to introduce you to Angela Coppola
Hi Angela, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
I am both a Phoenix native and a first-generation Italian American. I grew up in the East Valley, changing schools almost every year, but always within in the Tempe/Mesa area. I changed schools a total of 13 times between kindergarten and my senior year of high school. As a shy, introverted kid these moves were extremely hard on me and I struggled to make friends. I had fantasies about joining clubs or sports teams but as an always-outsider, it was hard to break into established cliques. I quickly learned that art was something I could be good at and take with me wherever I went. It was also something I used to prove my worth: If I could be really good at this one thing I could earn the recognition and friendship I craved. Looking back, I see the painful loneliness in my artistic origin story but I am not sure I would be the artist I am now without it. Part of my survival instinct was to intensely observe the world around me, sometimes to assess what felt safe, and sometimes to daydream. Those years of taking mental notes definitely trained my eye, my emotions, and my aesthetic sensibilities.
When it came time to go to college and pursue a career I really wanted to be a graphic designer or tattoo artist. Unfortunately, those paths weren’t available to me and, as the first person in my family to attend college, I felt immense pressure to choose a career that offered financial stability. Thankfully, I was just as interested in science as I was art and got my undergraduate degree in Molecular Biosciences from ASU. I then went on to get my Master’s in Public Health with the goal of doing public health research. Throughout this chapter of my life I still drew and painted occasionally, but it wasn’t something I made time to do regularly.
In my early 30’s I was a stay-at-home parent with young children and desperate to regain my personal identity. I dug out my old oil painting supplies and made a more than a few bad paintings. I was frustrated but knew I had it in me to be better; a feeling that has never really left. Painting with oils became quickly became prohibitive: I had to paint in the garage due to the mess and toxic solvents. Garages can get extremely hot in Arizona! I would forget to properly store my materials so paint would dry up and brushes would be ruined. My painting time was very limited because I could only paint when someone else was watching the kids. I found that these barriers meant I was painting a lot less than I’d hoped to. Around this time I started drawing as an alternative, and eventually rediscovered my love for watercolor. Watercolor allowed me to paint indoors, was easy to step away from and jump right back into without losing progress or supplies, and it was so much cheaper than oil paint. I always thought I’d get back to oil painting when my kids were older but I found a way to use watercolor to express what I was hoping to do with oil paint. This included painting on clay panels that allowed my work to be displayed without the need for glass.
I can say that I am a self-taught artist since I didn’t go to art school or have formal training, however I feel that this is a disservice to all of the artists that I have learned from over the years. I have learned so much from art instruction books that I’ve borrowed from the library or purchased at thrift stores. I have been encouraged by friends and art mentors who saw potential in me that I didn’t see in myself. I have also taken many workshops taught by talented artists who were generous enough to share techniques that I then adopted in my own art practice. My skill wasn’t developed in a bubble.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Art is hard and I am suspicious of people who claim it is easy. I want to be better than I am. I want to spend more time painting than I do. I feel as though I got a late start at all of this and need to make up for lost time. I constantly doubt my abilities. If it’s not obvious, most of my struggles happen in my own mind and it’s like treading water trying escape the negative self-talk.
I personally find that it is especially hard to be an artist and a mother. It is so difficult for me to step away from the responsibilities of home and work on art. I either can’t turn off the “noise” of the household to-do list that’s waiting for me or I have feelings of guilt about how I’m spending my time. I dream of applying for artists’ residencies but they aren’t logistically possible right now. Even taking workshops is a challenge due to scheduling and child care. I remind myself that this is temporary.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I am an artist primarily working in watercolor. I also enjoy working with gouache, charcoal and graphite. My style combines a high level of detail while embracing flawed elements. By that I mean I’ve learned to embrace some of the mistakes and unfinished areas of a painting as the best parts. If I think a piece looks too perfect I will go back in and smudge things up a bit. I am fascinated by the aging process of objects and people and try to convey that fleeting feeling in my work. I trust my eyes to see the beauty in anything if I just look long enough. If I see it, I want you to see it as well.
I spent much of my early art career making illustrations for marketing and advertising. I worked with various businesses, mostly those in cosmetics and food and beverage. After some time doing this I realized I was stalling in my progression and stepped away to focus on making larger, more personal work. I was invited to participate in several group art shows in the Phoenix area and did well. The experience of showing my work publicly helped me to quiet the voices in my head that told me I didn’t belong. I now work with Winsor and Newton as an artist educator in their watercolor division. I love teaching and helping others problem solve in their own art journeys. I am also preparing for a show in March where I’ll be showing 10+ charcoal drawings. My goal is to have a solo show one day.
If you had to, what characteristic of yours would you give the most credit to?
As I said before, art is not easy for me. I am not the kind of artist who creates because it’s fun or to relieve stress. I make art because I like the challenge and every once in a while I achieve some kind of self-imposed benchmark that gives me a temporary high. I’m constantly moving the goal post as I chase that high. These are the same traits that led me to pursue the sciences as a career: a need to examine and figure things out, an eye for subtleties, and imaginative problem solving.
This way of working can feel extremely frustrating at times, but it’s also driven by an intense determination to master something difficult. If it were easy I wouldn’t be interested. I don’t know that I will ever feel “success” but if I have made any progress in my work it’s because I have a drive to be better than I currently am. I accept the struggle that happens when the idea of what I think I am capable of is faced with the actual limitations of my abilities. Over time, this tug-of-war moves slightly in the direction of progress. The internal struggle combined with the realization that everything is temporary and everything is beautiful (even the heartbreaking things), is what pushes me to create.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.angelacoppolaart.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/angela.r.coppola
