Meet Cosette Grider | Mixed Media Artist & Muralist

We had the good fortune of connecting with Cosette Grider and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Cosette, why did you pursue a creative career?
Drawing portraits had been a passion of mine since my childhood. Years of just doing it for fun or as gifts for friends made me into a pretty good Artist. Getting to take a few fine art courses whiles studying Fashion Design in college from 2000-2004 opened me up artistically, but it was never a consideration for an actual career. After over 15 years of working as a CAD Artist for different apparel manufacturing companies, I started to feel more and more unfulfilled. It wasn’t until my cousin, who was also my best friend and confidante my whole life, suddenly passed away in late 2019, and then a global pandemic really rattling things up, that I knew I had to make a scary yet necessary change. That’s why, for the last 4 years, I have been pursuing, learning, growing, and embracing Art as a full time career.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
My artistic style went through a four year journey through the discovery of my mind and soul and the consistent practice of exploring mediums. A lot of these ideas I tried and learned from other Artists I was inspired by. This allowed me to discover my strengths and my voice.

The first couple of years were mostly commissioned paintings of celebrities, portraits of loved ones and pets. I became quite successful at Renaissance pet portraits for awhile. Once I would post, I would shortly get another commission out of it. Proud of the money I was earning, I was still frustrated at not having discovered my “unique style” yet and really wanted to create an important and empowering collection of mixed media paintings with the end result being an Art Show. I knew this would take some time to produce and even longer before I see any money come back from it. So I decided to get into the mural services.

Murals were something I had been curious about. I knew I’d be good and make some decent money from it but no idea how I would start or acquire jobs. I had painted a utility box as part of my city’s beautification program in 2021 and 2022, then my first indoor wall mural in my bathroom on January 2023. Those experiences gave me the necessary confidence and skill it took to promote and market myself as a local muralist. I contacted one of my favorite local boutiques and offered to paint their dressing room for just the cost of paint. Audrey, the owner was so happy and excited by my ideas that she had me paint her storefront window instead. I ended up doing a lot more paid work for Audrey during that year, including, her dressing rooms. The work I did for her that spring also led me to more jobs from neighboring shops, including a window mural. I continued doing murals into the fall and winter for a math tutoring company, a poke bowl restaurant, another local utility box, and ended 2023 with my biggest mural job yet! The handball court wall at Glenoaks Elementary School. I felt so proud of my accomplishments and how much work I had done that year, but I still had that important painting collection I wanted to finish.

A series of 10 canvas paintings of iconic women eating food, titled “Beauty & The Feast”. I was at the halfway point in that series in January 2024 after the last mural, and I had been slowly working on the collection for two years. I met a curator for a brand new art gallery called Echo Park Art. She liked my work and asked me to be a part of a group exhibit called “The Divine Feminine” with an opening and closing reception in January. I submitted half the collection. The gallery owner, Lina, felt so strongly about my work with its definitive unique style, that she offered me a SOLO SHOW for the whole month of June! This is, so far, the pinnacle of my art career and journey. In the 5 months that led up to the opening reception of my solo exhibit, I created the last 5 paintings for the collection, plus a much smaller in scale collection of 12 framed paintings titled “Insults & Peppermints.” My themes are about empowering women and challenging the pressures and ideals society puts on women.

My styles are unique in that both subject matter and painting style are quite expressive. Visually stimulating, loud, a flow of moment, bold uses of color and texture, provocative yet still classy. I use a wide mix of mediums from acrylic paint to charcoal, marker, pastels, copper leaf foils and so much more. This is my signature style in how I express myself through my Art. Layers, textures, and contrasting moods. There is a lot of energy in my work, a lot to take in. I use my background in fashion to play with contrasting colors, textures, and patterns.

How I got here feels easy in quick hindsight, but of course it wasn’t. I have faced many challenges along the way from artistic block to some difficult clients, but mostly challenges within the creation process. With murals, the challenges were even more so as I am dealing with more unpredictable aspects like weather, the distraction from outside people, and paint application. I overcame all challenges by researching the internet on how to fix a certain issue, talking to other Artists online and in my community, and having uplifting conversations with people I loved and trusted the most. Other times, depending on the situation, I just learned to roll with the punches.

Countless lessons along the way. Mainly, the lesson of patience, perseverance, consistency, and trust. Without those values, my goals are meaningless. I want the world to know that my Art is about LIVING a LIFE you’re proud of. Not taking anything for granted. Enjoy the pleasures of the world because life is, ultimately, too short. A harsh realization when it hit so personally for me with the death of my cousin. There is beauty, chaos, joy, and darkness and it’s natural to go through all of it. Many of us can feel a little “all over the place” and I say this lovingly, but so does my Art. We must embrace the changes in our journey and strive for personal growth. I want people to feel that when they are with my Art. I want connection and visibility. Not just for myself, but for them.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
I would love to give them a balanced experience in my city (Burbank/Los Angeles) by mixing it up with fun, culture, and relaxation. Part of the fun for us would be shopping favorite local boutiques like Tansy, Audrey K, Phoebe Peacock, Catnip Coalition and Mindfulness, all on Magnolia Blvd. in Burbank. To relax in between shopping, I would take her to either Three Sisters or Palm Coffee, also in Burbank, for a pastry and latte. Some great spots to eat during the week would be a fun culinary mix of middle eastern/Armenian at Carousel in Glendale, and my favorite sushi spot, Niko Niko in Burbank. Brunch would be had at Alcove or Home in Los Feliz. Great authentic high end Mexican food and incredible drinks at Mirate, also in Los Feliz. We’d hit up the Los Feliz flea market while we’re out there. Lively Art shows are happening every weekend in Los Angeles so we might visit Bergamot Station in Santa Monica or Echo Park Gallery in Echo Park.

In my view, some of the most fun, interesting, exciting people and places to check out would be at LA Art Shows, flea markets, trendy coffee shops, and small community events.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
I would not be here without the love, support, and encouragement of my husband, Paul. I’ll never forget the terrifying conversation we had outside on our backyard patio, early on during the covid pandemic when he was just furloughed from his job and my hours were reduced by half to work remotely. The uncertainty of our finances was clearly a cause for concern, and here I was pleading my case to my husband about why I NEED to quit the CAD Artist job I had at the time so I can practice, create, and sell Art full time. His confidence in my skills and tenacity as well as his unconditional care for my well being opened him up to this dream of mine turning into a reality. After I quit my job and he secured another for himself, he made me feel safe and confident in my decision by never second guessing my decision and for tirelessly keeping me sane during episodes of self doubt, imposter syndrome, and other challenges. He has helped me set up booths and tables during pop-up Art fairs and shows and never questioned how much I was spending on art supplies. He was and is very supportive of my long hours in the studio away from my family. I love getting his opinion towards the end of a project I’m working on because he would always be so annoyingly honest. He always makes me better than I am.

Website: https://www.cosettegrider.com

Instagram: @cosette.grider.art

Facebook: Cosette Grider Art

Image Credits
Only 3 images should have photographer credit. Photographer’s name is Gilbert Molinet

Photo file names:
“4G7A0067 2”
“4G7A9994”
“4G7A0113”