About the artist

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Crystal Cox started painting again in 2013, professionally in 2015 after a series life challenges. “I think we all grow during the storms in life.”  She says “The act of painting and playing with different materials always transports me into a mindless, peaceful focused world where I can relax, escape and create. It's almost like active meditation and I immediately get to a playful, happy place."

After a career in interior design in Atlanta and some time away to raise children, Crystal used her strengths in design, color and scale to start painting again. From prominent galleries to Art Basel in Miami to show houses in the Southeast, Crystal is now focused on being an independent artist “at least for a little while.".  Crystal uses a combination of mixed media to create her abstract pieces: collage, acrylic, oil, pastels, 24k gold leaf, vintage magazines from the 50’s and 60’s, pharmacy ledgers in French, old sheet music from Germany, beautiful ephemera from the 1800’s. “It’s all an opportunity to me.” 

Although she graduated with a BFA from SMU in Dallas, Crystal feels she is a self-taught artist. , “I probably learned the basics in art school, but I really learned my sense of color, composition and texture from my parents, especially my interior designer mother ."  

How did her upbringing influence her work ? 

"My mom was an ASID Interior Designer who loved to draw her clients' rooms, my engineer father painted landscapes in oils with structures in perfect perspective. His architectural handwriting was truly beautiful."  The use of old magazines in Crystal’s work is an homage to her childhood in the 60’s and 70’s. “That era was rife with style and color, classic design was being born every day. I lived it through my parents. The music, the fashion, the furnishings, the colors, the political chaos of the VietNam war, the civil rights movement. It was a fantastic world to absorb inspiration for my art today.” 

I'd left my art in college when the dreams of pursuing an MFA in NYC were not met with support by my family. I needed something mediative to help pain, stress from a divorce and life at the time. So I started painting again in 2015 after working on and off as an interior designer in Atlanta.  With time and a daily practice, Crystal developed as an artist. "Lockdown during COVID in an apartment with an art studio in the Financial District in Manhattan was magical for me." Crystal's business exploded.  She worked 7 days a week full-filling commissions from her posts on social media and referrals.  "COVID lockdown forced me to paint all day everyday, my business exploded into my dream. It was  an amazing time in my career. I feel like I completed 4 years of work in 18 months during lockdown."

For the moment, Crystal is back in Dallas focusing on commission work as she continues to develop a new aspect of her art business that's top secret !