By Nancy E. McCarthy
I
thaca artist Trish Coonrod was living in NYC 20 years ago when she stopped to admire an art gallery window display. The window was filled with stunning still life paintings with “sold” signs on each one. It was one of a series of subliminal aha moments that led Coonrod to choose still life as her own preferred subject matter a decade later.
She is now a highly regarded still life painter. Coonrod’s award-winning oil paintings have been exhibited several times at the Memorial Art Gallery in Rochester and Arnot Art Museum in Elmira. Her paintings – lifelike depictions of artfully arranged objects such as fruit, flowers and everyday items – are also represented by West End Gallery in Corning and galleries in Virginia, South Carolina, Wisconsin, New Mexico and Oklahoma.
“When we saw Trish’s paintings for the first time, we recognized the sheer quality and technical skill in her creations,” said Jesse Gardner, West End Gallery owner. “Last year (2023) marked our 10th year representing Trish and it has been an honor to be a part of her artistic journey. Her talent is unmistakable and undeniable.”
Michelle Perricone of Vestal is a gallery client who owns three of Coonrod’s works with plans to acquire more. When Perricone first viewed a Coonrod painting, the objects were so vivid that she felt she could reach in and lift them right off the canvas. “Trish Coonrod is a contemporary photorealist, yet her paintings have the charm and warmth of works by the old masters,” said Perricone. “She paints with absolute clarity and precision without sacrificing the soul of the subject she is painting.”
Aspiring artist
Coonrod grew up in Danvers, MA, the youngest of 10 children. “Our parents encouraged us to follow our own interests,” she said. Hers was art. With so many siblings, there were always random art supplies around the house. From an early age, Coonrod explored various mediums: drawing, watercolors, acrylics, sculpting and collage. Her great-uncle was an oil painter, and she first tried oils while in grade school. “I didn’t commit to oil painting until I was in college,” she said.
Coonrod was drawn to representational art, particularly realism, which was not in vogue when she attended college. Coonrod earned a BFA with a split major in painting and photography from Washington University (WU) in St. Louis in 1989. Soon after, WU awarded Coonrod with a prestigious three-month artist residency at the Cité Internationale des Arts in Paris, France. She drew, painted and visited museums daily. “At that time, I was mostly interested in figure compositions and thinking about how to visualize human interactions,” Coonrod said.
Still life objects also remind her of relationships which humanizes the subject matter. For instance, she can arrange a bunch of cherries to lean with individual stems reaching out toward, or pulling away from, each other.
She stayed in St. Louis for three years painting, drawing and showing her work while waitressing. Coonrod’s goal was to be a working artist, have gallery shows and support herself through sales. “I often felt very frustrated because I didn’t know how to make this happen,” she explained. The internet and social media would later provide new tools to promote her work and make connections with galleries and customers.
In 1993, Coonrod moved to NYC to pursue an MFA at the New York Academy of Art. It was a two-year program with a focus on figure work. She graduated in 1995 and accepted a position as an artist’s assistant in NYC. Later she painted for a mural company. Coonrod loved living in the city and continued to create her own paintings in a shared studio space.
Living in the Finger Lakes
In 2003, Coonrod serendipitously met her future husband Scott while having coffee with a mutual friend. They married after a short, whirlwind courtship and started a family. In 2007, the couple was living in a one-bedroom apartment with their two children, 1 and 3 years old. They were ready to move out of Manhattan when Scott accepted a science professor position at Cornell University in Ithaca. Coonrod had some family in Rochester, but neither had previous ties to the Finger Lakes Region.
When their children were young, Coonrod rose early to paint. In 2011, they were in school and she painted full-time: portraits, florals, still life and landscapes. Coonrod participated in Ithaca Art Trail events, sold her work on the Daily Paintworks platform and taught painting classes at a Michaels crafts store. She used still life as subject matter because it was a good way to teach fundamentals. “It also got me thinking more about still life painting for myself.”
Coonrod was selling her paintings and gaining confidence when she approached West End Gallery in Corning about representation in 2013. She had just begun to focus exclusively on still life. “Something clicked for me when I made that decision. I had more enthusiasm and purpose in my work, and my career started moving more quickly once I committed to one genre,” said Coonrod.
Her paintings sold well at West End. A couple of years later, Coonrod contacted the Principle Gallery which focuses on contemporary realism art. It began to represent her work in its Alexandria, VA and Charleston, SC locations. As Coonrod’s reputation grew, other galleries sought her out.
Coonrod began submitting her paintings for consideration in regional juried exhibitions at Arnot Art Museum in 2011 and the Memorial Art Gallery (MAG) in 2013. Her work was accepted in three of MAG’s annual Rochester-Finger Lakes Exhibitions and garnered three awards. Her paintings were also accepted three times in the Arnot’s annual Regional Exhibitions and also won awards – most recently the Jury Award for Ford Gumball Machine in 2023. This painting was purchased by a private collector during the exhibit’s opening reception.
“Trish Coonrod’s precise and alluring offerings – be they blooms or produce, candy or eggs – always entice,” said Rick Pirozzolo, Arnot’s executive director and chief curator. “The Arnot specializes in the contemporary realists, and Trish rightly holds a place amongst the leaders in the movement. Technical precision combined with a romantic eye makes for a magical combination every time.”
Coonrod has met and exceeded her vision of being a working artist. “I’m pretty happy to have met several of my goals, but there’s always the next challenge. In painting there’s always more to learn,” she said. Next up, she wants to participate in more museum shows and have her work selected for permanent museum collections. On the home front, Coonrod, an avid gardener, is dreaming about this year’s harvest and hopes she’ll have homegrown cherries to paint.
Visit trishcoonrod.com for more information. View Coonrod’s paintings in person at West End Gallery, 12 West Market Street in Corning.
