V.L.Cox has been painting for over 25 years and currently works as a full time artist. Graduating from Henderson State University with a degree in Fine Arts, Cox carries forward the talent of her great grandmother, Louise Betts Pilkinton, a painter who graduated in 1909 from Lindenwood College for Women with a degree in Fine Art.

Cox’s work can be found in private and corporate collections from Dallas to Washington D.C. She was selected for the 1999 International Women’s Works Competition in Chicago and is a member of the National Women’s Caucus for Art. I bought my first V.L.Cox painting in 2001 and another this past summer.

The thing I love about her work, besides her sheer talent, is her unprecedented style. You can come back to Cox’s work again and again and yet, it is always fresh, always pointing a new direction. And, always demonstrating confidence. Whether because of experience or ability, you can sense a painter who paints with confidence. Sometimes, it’s in the strength of the brushstroke. And sometimes, it’s the venturing into new territory.

Cox created a series this summer called “Age of Wonder” in which she incorporated vintage toys and antique chrome from cars into the work; a gum ball machine as a mixed media installation piece, a painting that rolls on a pull wagon. The series presents some of the most imaginative contemporary abstract work I have seen. What if Picasso hadn’t splintered the visual world when he painted Les Desmoiselles d’Avignon, his first cubist painting? What if Jackson Pollack used brushes and a palette, rather than pouring paint? Celebrate the artist willing to push the envelope, to move out of his or her own comfort zone.

V.L. COX : ARTIST'S STATEMENT : I constantly feel the drive to create something that no one has ever seen before and educate myself daily with new techniques and ideas. I get my ideas by studying and observing previous art movements, other artists, past and present, their form, brush strokes, colors and techniques. I read about current trends, past trends, study the market, and what movement is hot and why.

I feel like I have a hunger that cannot be fulfilled and a thirst that cannot be quenched. I cannot seem to educate myself enough.
I want my viewer to feel like they can step inside my work and find a part of himself or herself that has been lost, or a part that they have never known.

I want my work to convey to the viewer that art is not a spoken language, but an emotion. It is felt, not explained. It is what it is - love, anger, sadness, happiness, a feeling, a passion. And contrary to popular belief, it doesn’t have to match your couch to invoke a presence.

My idea of a great creation is one that captivates the viewer. A piece that no matter how far away you walk away from it, it pulls you back like a magnet and won't let you go. I have met several collectors that said they couldn't sleep at night thinking of a piece that they had seen. The perfect work of art will incite an emotion or feeling that can't be explained, and just like the perfect lover, you feel in your soul that you just can't live without it.