“Watercolor is my medium of choice. I love how it can be handled loosely or tightly controlled. It becomes my partner in the way it works with the water, not always doing what I expect. There’s a back and forth between me and the paint on the paper that is exciting and satisfying. My subjects are from my garden, and just as often, from my kitchen. Fruits and vegetables are a favorite. During the pandemic I started zooming life drawing sessions, and now I’m fascinated with painting people.
I’m enjoying bringing my passion for painting to students, encouraging experimentation while teaching skills that take the fear out of this sometimes unpredictable medium. “
Connolly has been involved in art since forever. Early training in design and advertising lead to positions as art director with Carmichael Lynch Advertising Agency, owning her own design studio, and creative manager for Target Corporation. She has won national and regional awards for her advertising and design work and her work has been recognized in Communication Arts, Print, Creative Quarterly and Graphis magazines. Coco has been a featured speaker at venues in Baltimore, Cleveland, Cincinnati and Washington DC for the American Institute of Graphic Artists.
Connolly is now focused on making personal artworks and illustration. She takes commissions from both the private sector and commercial venues.
In addition to evolving her painting Coco is teaching watercolor at Minnetonka Center for the Arts, and leading art activities for children with Breanna’s Gift Foundation at Minneapolis Children’s Hospital.
