ArtistsNetwork.com 51A Mentor
As a young artist myself, I asked
Cole whether I could have his criti-
cal comment on my drawings. Soon
I was visiting him during evenings
in his apartment to get his help,
for which I gave him $10 a session.
I was grateful for these visits and
surprised to learn much later that he
said they were the highlight of his
day. Eventually I reached the point
at which he had no comment regard-
ing my work except, “Keep this up.
This will lead somewhere for you.”
As kind and generous as Cole was,
he didn’t back away from pointing out
areas he felt needed improvement—
both in art and character. One of my
friends, another art student, learned
of my sessions and asked to visit Cole.
She dropped into his office during his
lunch hour with her art. Cole saw that
she used charcoal in her drawing butfelt that pen and pencil were better
suited for her as a beginner. He also
advised her to work more consis-
tently. That first meeting upset my
friend, who had felt she’d been mak-
ing significant progress with her art.
A month later, however, she returned.
Cole confided with me that her art, as
well as her attitude, had improved.
Cole’s work ethic was strong, and
he expected the same of others.
He told me of a young woman he’d
employed in his graphic arts business
who once said she wasn’t feeling up
to working that day because of what
Cole considered a minor ailment. He
noted, “When you work for some-
body, you can’t do that.”
His strongest criticism was reserved
for people who he said “did not reach.”
He identified his officemate as one of
those. This was the artist who’d given
me a cold shoulder when I’d intro-
duced myself—a man who’d admitted
to his general nastiness to people
around him. Cole’s view was “It don’t
take a nickel to be nice.”
Cole also dismissed the idea of the
starving artist. I didn’t believe artists
could thrive financially until I visited
him at his home in the Germantown
section of Philadelphia (he stayed
in an apartment near the office dur-
ing the work week and went to his
Philadelphia residence on weekends).
It was a beautiful home on a high hill.
In addition to his office job, Cole
undertook a wide range of freelance
graphics assignments—designing
covers and layouts, and illustrating
books and reports for many busi-
nesses and educational institutions.
He was continually sending and
receiving work through the mail, and
as an artist, he was always “at work.”
I’ll never forget the time I met him as
he came into the office after lunch.
Seeing a man driving a produce truck,
he held out his hands in a square and
said, “I just saw a picture.”A Family Man
As dedicated as Cole was to his art,
he also had a rich family life. He’d
fathered 10 children, whom he said he
“rottened” with spoiling. He said that
three of his young-adult daughters had