Plein Air at Art Show

Artist Joanna Ruma Cofa’s (her artist name) art is being presented at Soda Springs Floral’s gallery during November, and features a number of pieces painted using the “plein air” method, which Joanna is a proponent of.  Plein air refers to paintings made outdoors in the elements, capturing subjects in their natural surroundings with the accompanying light and weather conditions.  “It’s like extreme sports for artists,” Joanna laughed.

Plein air art is often done in the form of competitions, which Joanna has done very well at in the past.  “I believe if you’re doing landscapes, the best way to do it is outside, not from a photograph.  I think if you’re doing a portrait, the best way is to have a live model.  And still lifes are the easiest of all, of course!  I would like to get good at all of those disciplines.”  

Joanna’s sister Jennifer Jones and her friend Alex Browning, an EMT/Firefighter in Caribou County, were on hand at the Saturday open house to support Joanna and her art.  (Also for the Oreo cokes, they joked.)  By the time I made it, about an hour into the morning, Joanna had already sold an oil painting of a pygmy rabbit.  

It should be stated at this point that Joanna is extremely humble, considering her long career in the arts.  “Back in Utah, I was involved in the arts a lot.  I was the past co-president of the Utah Art Educators Association for four years.  I was an art teacher for thirty years, and the district arts coordinator for many years.  But then I retired, and now that I’m retired, I just want to paint!”

“When I was a little girl, I wanted to be a famous artist…and I didn’t make it,” Joanna laughs.  “But it’s not too late.  In my backup job, which was teaching art, I did pretty well.  I won teacher of the year eight times and other awards too.  I was the Utah art educator of the year for the whole state, so that was neat.”

Her sister reminds her that she had also won a lifetime achievement award.  “Oh yeah, that one too,” Joanna smiles.   “Now that I’m retired I’m just going back to being an artist.  I don’t care about the money anymore or the fame.  I just want to be good in my own mind, you know what I mean?  I want to do paintings that I think are good.”

Her artist name is a nod to her Danish ancestors, but seems to fit her effervescent personality, and her love of painting.  As she discusses her paintings on display, it’s clear she has a special connection to each of them.

“And when I do a painting that I think is good, a lot of other people think it’s good too.  If you set your own standards, other people will like it too,” she notes.

“And I wouldn’t want to be famous now, but I do want to be good.  So I paint every day.  I’ve noticed that I’m improving, which is kind of cool that you can get to my age and still be getting better.”  

In addition to oils, Joanna also does charcoal portraits.  At the last Soda Springs Floral show, she did 8 live quick portraits in studio.  “I just think no matter who you are, you can improve, and that’s a fun thing about visual arts.”  Her attitude about continual improvement certainly resonates with her history as a teacher.  She spent decades providing art instruction to aspiring  painters of all ages, and found the she most enjoyed teacher the youngest painters.

“They’re just fearless,” she says.  “They don’t worry about things adults do and just paint what they want.  I love that.”  

Joanna likes to surround herself with other artistic people.  Along with gallery host Marie Crane, Joanna is also a member of the Caribou County Arts Association.  “I consider Marie the Gertrude Stein of the local artists.  She’s great at gathering us all together to do cool things.”  Crane and Ruma Cofa added that the CCAA is always looking for more members, and they can be found under that name on Facebook.  Events that the group is holding will be posted the page for anyone who wants to become involved.  Members come from a variety of different media and styles, and the group is excited to have new artists to share their work with.  Right now, the idea of having a photographer join the group was top of mind.

“If you want to get good at something, do it every day.  Sometimes I paint for five hours, but other days I paint for fifteen minutes.  But the important thing is that I do it every day—that’s where the improvement comes from,” Joanna says.  

She paints a lot of scenes of the local area, including the geyser, Eight mile, and many other recognizable locations which can be found in her paintings.  She also has a real fondness for wildlife, and finds that “people like looking at paintings more when there are animals in there, and me too!”  In many of her paintings, animals are pictured in the background or out of the main focal area of the visual space, which makes for a fun, more naturalistic approach to outdoor scenes.  

The show will continue running through the holidays, and Joanna’s work can be purchased through Soda Springs Floral.  She can also be contacted through the Facebook page for the Caribou County Arts Association.