City River

Although Judith Ann Cooper was trained as a painter, the joy she receives from creating has led her to utilize many different materials throughout her career: fibers & textiles, graphite & pastels, as well as clay and assemblages with found objects. Each material offers very different possibilities for the creative process and for the resulting finished piece of work. Judith particularly enjoys creative problem solving in her personal art and in working with others. She believes that looking at an idea or concept and holding it up to the light to discover various options one might choose can give energy to the work. Judith’s chosen two-dimensional media are charcoal, pastels and graphite and she enjoys the physicality of using her hands and fingers to "rub in" over the paper. She finds the subtle gradations that can be achieved, and the softness and sensuality of the tones, are wonderful in contrast to the details and linear textures that can be attained with the pencils.

Judith attended the High School of Music & Art in Manhattan and then earned a B.F.A. from Boston University, with a major in painting and a minor in education. Her first year of teaching art was in a school for emotionally disturbed children in Lexington, Massachusetts. She then taught art in the Gloucester public schools for 28 years, working with every grade level, with a primary focus with high school students in ceramics, drawing, and portfolio preparation for those applying to art school.

Retiring from public education in 1999 gave Judith the chance to concentrate on her art, work with private clients, and delve into graduate studies. She participated in the Global Certificate Program at the Institute of Transpersonal Psychology in California. Her Masters degree was then completed through the Inter-Disciplinary Program at Lesley University in Cambridge, Massachusetts where her thesis focused on Jungian psychology, art and healing, creativity in indigenous cultures and shamanism.