Glo Coalson is a Texas native who grew up in a western landscape of prickly pear, mesquite trees and wind. Immersed in nature, she developed a love for the land, her ancestors and the animals that roam the wild country.
After graduating from college, she answered adventure’s call and lived for two years in a small Arctic Eskimo village, Kotzebue, Alaska. Fascinated by Eskimo culture, she made many drawings and paintings of villagers and village life in the Arctic. While there, she heard and recorded folklore and stories of the native people. In 1971 Glo exhibited her artwork in a one person show at the Anchorage Museum of Fine Art.
Glo left Alaska for New York city to write and illustrate children’s books, some of them based on Eskimo themes. Over the next ten years, she illustrated thirty-five books for children. While living in New York, Glo studied clay at Columbia University. After moving to Texas, she began making clay sculptures of birds. She became nationally recognized for her distinctive bird sculptures fired in the delicate art of Raku.
Glo makes her home in Texas and continues to pursue dual careers in illustration and sculpture. “Since I’ve been coming to South Carolina, I’ve become interested in early American history of the Low Country. Some of my work reflects that interest in bringing to image some of the unrecognized people who lived, worked and died here.”
