Elizabeth Cockey is a retired art therapist, author, and painting instructor. Currently she enjoys teaching painting and facilitating workshops to help people make paints from pigments found in nature. She splits her time between upstate New York and Texas with her husband and four Pekingese dogs.

Background and Education

Elizabeth earned her BA degrees in both art and psychology and her master’s in art therapy. Initially she served as the Executive Director for the Texas Museum Association and then as Communications Director for the Texas Historical Foundation. While in Texas, Elizabeth taught painting at the Laguna Gloria Art Museum and the Elisabet Ney Museum. She also helped with the completion of the book Historic Texas, which was published in conjunction with Texas Monthly Press.

Art Therapist

After relocating to Maryland, Elizabeth changed career paths and began working for a variety of hospitals and long-term care facilities as an art therapist. She also participated at the Johns Hopkins Kennedy-Krieger Center for disabled children, and at the Johns Hopkins’ Copper-Ridge center for Alzheimer’s disease.

She enjoyed a successful career helping individuals recover from stroke, dementia, and paralysis using art as the basis for treatment. During that time, she discovered how and why art was a successful approach in recovering the use of a paralyzed limb, thwarting depression, and improving the quality of life, despite the fact many of her clients were living in long-term facilities or in hospitals.