September - Cochran Art Limited

Thomas L. (Tom) Cochran (1938-2006) was a multi-faceted artist. Experts considered him a master of watercolor; he was also a sculptor, woodcarver, and designer.

His resume included commissioned sculpted bronze busts of Senator Robert Kerr of Oklahoma and the late Lt. Governor Carroll Gartin of Mississippi.

When Jackson’s upscale Highland Village Shopping Center opened in 1972, many of the stores had signs that had been hand carved by Tom. His hand carved signs also adorned a number businesses in the Jackson metro area.

In 1991 two of his impressionistic paintings won “Awards of Merit” from Watercolor Encounter at Louisiana Tech.His creations are in private and corporate collections throughout the country. President Gerald Ford, President Ronald Reagan, and President George H.W. Bush each own commissioned Cochran carvings, as well as limited edition prints. Lee Iacocca’s collection includes Tom’s work.

The Mississippi Museum of Art, the leading Mississippi art museum located in Jackson, selected his work for its prestigious “Collector’s Choice Live Auction.”Just as watercolor was his favorite medium, Tom was best known for his finely-detailed style. His paintings leave viewers wondering if they are looking at a painting or a photograph. “Creative realism” describes Tom’s execution of watercolor. Tom did not limit himself with just one style, yet his style is uniquely his own.

A strong sense of family and love of country are recurrent themes in his works as he created familiar scenes depicting rural and small town Americana. His poignant paintings of weather-worn buildings and faded, forgotten, once-prized possessions evoke a feeling of nostalgia.
Frequent subjects found in his watercolor compositions are carousel horses, windows, storm clouds, Old Glory, brick structures, flowers, and wildlife. His carousel horses– both watercolor and carved — are collectors’ items. Tom’s paintings of American Indians and their artifacts reflect his native Oklahoma roots and his Native American ancestry.

A Silver Beaver holder, he used his talents to further the Boy Scout program, both outdoors and artistically, and is known and recognized nationally for his artistic contributions to the Boy Scouts of America. As Senior Staff Art Advisor for the The Scouters Journal, Tom created paintings which were used as the cover for the first six issues of that publication.
A native of Walters, OK, Tom moved to Jackson, MS, in 1959 following a tour of duty with the U.S. Navy. Other than a very brief period of time during which he lived in Brookhaven, MS, he resided in Jackson until his death in 2006.

During his lifetime, Tom had one-man art shows at the following Jackson, MS, metro area venues: main office of Deposit Guaranty Bank (now Regions Bank); Jackson Municipal Art Gallery; Artist Mississippi Gallery; Chateau Ridgeland Retirement Home; Mississippi State Law Library; and Eudora Welty Library.

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