Melissa Cooper-Prince: More Barrier Than Talk Therapy

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When Melissa Cooper-Prince’s eleven-year marriage suddenly ended last year, she was disillusioned, angry, and heartbroken. “I felt blindsided. I needed an emotional outlet,” so the Rockford mother began painting while her children, Hannah, 9, and Cooper, 4, were visiting their father. At first she created small, simple watercolors, but as she became more immersed in the cathartic process, she ventured into other media—as well as more technically, and emotionally, challenging compositions. Having taken only three Art and Design courses at Hope College many years ago, Cooper-Prince had limited experience as an artist, but she realized that “it was a form of therapy” as she would become lost in her art for hours and hours reflecting on her life with and without her husband. “Whatever…show more content…
“I think that it may be a more effective way to resolve issues than talk therapy. You not only have the beneficial artistic process but a tangible, concrete expression of your thoughts that you can then step back and analyze.” And, she jokes, “I saved myself a million dollars in therapy bills!” And when Cooper-Prince, a sales coordinator at Metro PCS, finally shared her friends and family her new found passion, she found that her works of art resonated with others—especially women who had gone through similar situations. After seven of her watercolors were displayed in two Rockford Coffeehouses, Epic and Frenz, she decided to create a piece for this year’s ArtPrize competition. “I wouldn’t say I’m an artist, but I just felt the need to put it out there as part of the healing process.” The 9-paneled canvas piece, entitled “Til Death Do Us Part”, was created this past spring from silicone, paper, oil, and watercolor. It also incorporates metal elements of chains, window screen and grommets. Cooper-Prince says it “represents a bound woman trying to find her voice, her sight and her

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