John Cooley is from New York, and he says it was his background there and time spent in Denver that helped him build confidence and skills in his art.

“The years I spent in Denver was an apprentice period for me learning and time honing my skills,” says Cooley. “The big cities offer the high energy and diversity a smaller community can’t offer. You have to be confident in your skills both at the bench and with the public.”

Implementing classically trained abstraction into his work was the next level — how many times can you draw or paint a peach tree, or even a tree before you start to change it from its reality.

“For me it was a natural progression, and jewelry design fits the mold,” Cooley explains. “Metal is totally different from pencils and paint — all those classes in math science and chemistry come in to play.

Working with Cooley is simple — contact him, stop in and sit together to talk about what you want.

“I show you my work and you tell me what you’re looking for,” he says. “I can sketch something for you or take your design and give it my own flair. When you come to see me you you already know my work or you were referred to me.”

For Cooley, the process of making this art is a way of life, and it allows him and his clients to look at things differently.

“Everything could be translated in to a piece of jewelry, a painting or a sculpture.”

Cooley Designs is an abstract art and jewelry design studio featuring gold and silver designs, as well as two-dimensional blended pieces. Contact John Cooley at jcstudios58@outlook.com

Artist Feature: Cooley Designs