Art and Poetry: Sight and Insight

In Art and Poetry: Sight and Insight, Judith Coxe gathered an intensely personal collection of poems: vignettes painted in words and pictures, spanning her lifetime as artist, poet, performer, scholar and teacher, wife and mother.

From childhood, she was engaged in the arts, painting, theatre and poetry; always seeking "a startling cuckoo of a poem" and always crafting her work with the sensibilities of an artist making sense of her life.

Between these pages, as in her life, art and poetry are inseparable. She shares her life, her loves, her discoveries — artworks and artists, singers, authors, beloved places and people — and how they made her feel.

46 poems, in four sections: Dramatic Monologues, Through an Artist's Eye, Sight and Insight, and Gathering Rosebuds; each one will bring you closer to the world of Judith Coxe, artist and poet.

With First Light, the reader joins her in one of her earliest memories, as a four-year-old in a row boat with her father, plunging into clear waters — and much later, immersed in sadness at his bedside, in Goodbye.

Whether pondering Pelicans or Terns, looking for Blue on the Brush, wandering the desert of Sedona, Arizona, or the beaches of Virgin Gorda or Vancouver Island, (her favorite vacation spots) she takes us along in quiet moments of contemplation of the sweep of tide, sand, sun—and time.

Her final line, "We’ll leave them all to lust in Peace."

Judith Coxe, M.A., Art History, University of Toronto

Judith Coxe was recognized for her talent at an early age: her brother was six when he watched her perform on television, just twelve. Entering high school, she was invited to join a group of young artists, sponsored by the Massey family of Toronto for immersive training. They worked year-round and spent summers performing two plays each day. She remembers the camaraderie, enthusiasm, fun!

It was not long before she was a sought-after leading lady, albeit still a very young lady. She was an actress, on television and film and most of all on the stage, from the age of 14. At the University of Toronto, she performed in stage productions twice a year, plus summer stock; and she hosted her own radio program — all while she earned a Masters degree in Art History.

Moving to Guelph, as a young wife and mother, she became a tenured professor, teaching Art and Art History at the University of Guelph. She remembered fondly, the joy of encouraging young talents, and the time for her own explorations in art. An accomplished artist, by the time she was in her mid-20's, Judith Coxe's paintings in water color, acrylic and mixed media were exhibited and warmly reviewed in exhibitions in Canada and the US.

Another family move in 1987 brought her to New York, where she and her husband Don could indulge their love of theatre. Their home, a pre-revolutionary farm in Greenwich, gave her a new avenue for her artistry: inspired by the near-by arboretum, Judy plunged into gardening. She painted in her studio over the barn, and showed her work in New York.

Theatre remained significant throughout her life: after moving to Chicago in the 90's, she served 25 years as a theatre critic for the Jeff Awards in Chicago, reviewing Equity and Non-equity performances—and still punctuated her time with theatre trips to London and New York.

Blessed with talent, and advanced through hard work, Judith Coxe led an extraordinary life, in which Art and Poetry were constants.

"Inspiration spins among the stars to the rhythmic pounding of the heart."

Judith Coxe died after a difficult battle with leukemia on July 27, 2020. This book was completed from her hospital bed just weeks before, with the same determination and devotion to her craft as in all things.