Emerging Artists | Terry Cooke Hall

Terry Cooke Hall, Sisters of the Sun, oil, 24 x 30.

Terry Cooke Hall, Sisters of the Sun, oil, 24 x 30.

This story was featured in the January 2017 issue of Southwest Art magazine. Get the Southwest Art  January 2017 print issue or digital download now–then subscribe to Southwest Art and never miss another story.

Wielding 30 years of graphic design and illustration experience, Terry Cooke Hall infuses her distinctive figure paintings with everything from California Impressionism and the golden age of illustration to flavors of the Southwest and Art Deco panache. Even imagery from the illustrated classics of Hall’s childhood—stories of adventure like King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table—occasionally surfaces, particularly medieval-era processional clothing and horses that evoke the heraldry of that time, notes Hall. “I like to inject a bit of it here and there,” she adds, pointing to romanticized works like IN SEARCH OF CAMELOT.

Hall began studying fine art at Palomar College in San Diego, CA, about 10 years ago, but her move to Bozeman, MT, in 2008 proved to be most influential on the subject matter she paints today. Hall often portrays Native Americans on horseback and adorned in beautifully detailed ceremonial regalia for the annual Crow Fair in eastern Montana, which the artist has attended devotedly every year since 2011. Hall photographs and gets to know her subjects, and she says she feels a special connection to the women, for whom her admiration shines in portraits like RHAPSODY IN BLUE. The work garnered an award of excellence at the American Women Artists member exhibition this year.

Jubilant color palettes and whimsically patterned, mosaic-like backgrounds abound throughout Hall’s works, echoing the artist’s playful spirit and cheerful disposition. “That’s who I am,” says Hall. “I’m a positive person. I try to find the good in everything.” See Hall’s work at Dick Idol Signature Gallery, Whitefish, MT; Lovetts Gallery, Tulsa, OK; Mountain Trails Gallery, Jackson, WY, and Park City, UT; Tierney Fine Art, Bozeman, MT; and www.terrycookehall.com. —Kim Agricola

This story was featured in the January 2017 issue of Southwest Art magazine. Get the Southwest Art  January 2017 print issue or digital download now–then subscribe to Southwest Art and never miss another story.

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