Art is a Life Force — Hilary Cooper
from Mainstreet Magazine
It was a warm afternoon when I had a wonderful conversation with Hilary Cooper, a portrait artist who works across multiple mediums – painting, watercolor, and clay. Drawing together likenesses of people, each of her subjects carries a unique narrative.
As we walked around some sculpted heads in progress, I watched how they seemed to converse with one another – quietly keeping an eye on each other as they emerged from Cooper’s hands. It is an intimate practice: looking closely, talking about life, and, through that exchange, finding a person’s smile, their gaze, their character – gathering threads and weaving them together.
Her work is filled with muted colors, impressionistic strokes, and expressive marks that allow the material itself to speak. There’s a quiet joy in preserving the image of a loved one – held forever on a wall, a constant presence in our thoughts.