REVIEWS FROM LUMINARIES
Wasn’t expecting this to be soooooooooo amazing!
“Years from now, we will be talking about this book. It is an instant classic from an incredibly talented writer and artist. The pictures of her art are beautiful and her positive spirit is an inspiration. Get it. Read it. Pass it on.”
Cirina Catania — Co-founder Sundance Film Festival
“Clare Cooley’s true-life story is a riveting and intensely textural journey of amazing adventure, profound creativity, and punishing endurance through unimaginable life events. Cooley is fueled by her amazing spirit, artistic exploration, and an outright will to thrive, not just survive, over a lifetime of extreme challenges. Although her story is harsh and disturbing at times, it is also filled with beauty, inspiration, and life lessons for all.”
Mark Eveslage — Emmy Award-Winning Cinematographer
“Clare’s stories are well-written, entertaining, yet bittersweet, and they contain universal themes that surely will resonate with readers. Cooley’s tales reveal the dramatic story of a woman who overcame enormous obstacles through determination and creativity. The subject matter is timely and can help many. As a writer, Clare has her own unique and articulate voice. This book will help others confront their own demons.”
Claire Kirch — Publisher’s Weekly
“Incandescence is the transformative book for our times, taking us from a dark and hopeless state to an iridescent and wondrous awareness borne by loss and humility, infused by a profound connection to the natural world, and forged by love’s indomitable spirit.”
Sumner Matteson — Author of Afield: Portraits of Wisconsin Naturalists, Empowering Leopold’s Legacy
“If it is possible to turn one’s life into a work of art, Clare Cooley has surely done this. Born with extraordinary gifts, Clare has also faced extraordinary odds but met them with truth, beauty and unrelenting courage. May she be an example of grace under pressure and may her memoir inspire you to live your truth and always always always remain true to yourself. The wisdom in Clare’s Incandescence is a guiding light for us all.”
Brenda Knight — Author of Random Acts of Kindness
REVIEWS ON AMAZON
Beautiful book by Clare Cooley
“Clare is an incredible artist, writer, mother, friend and creative leader. She once again channels this spirit into another creative venture that will encourage and inspire. Cannot wait for all to read!”
Monica Leed
“Clare Cooley is a true creative. Once I started reading her 52 extraordinary stories about challenges and how she overcame them, I couldn’t put the book down. From the first page I felt she was a person I could trust. By the end of the book I was moved by her quest to seek and find truth and beauty.”
Cathy Cato
Vulnerable, Uplifting, & Inspiring
“Clare Cooley’s Incandescence is a raw and vulnerable memoir that embodies and exudes the strength and grace that is Clare. Her unique outlook on life, intertwined with sage wisdom and candid honesty creates a moving piece of work that inspires and uplifts readers of all backgrounds and walks of life. Like her art, Clare’s words carry a melodic and whimsical strength that keep the reader engaged and enthralled.
Clare takes you on a journey through her lifetime, capturing moments in time that transcend expectations; with life lessons applicable to any reader that is fortunate enough to open the cover of Incandescence.
No matter where you are in life, you will find a message in this book that speaks to you. I highly recommend reading this artistic memoir.”
Ashley Turner
“This is a thoroughly beautiful book. It narrates a woman’s journey out of trauma in a collection of compelling vignettes and compassionate reflections. “Incandescence” intersperses striking scenes and hard won life lessons with artwork of exquisite simplicity to form a sort of modern day illuminated manuscript. While the watercolor illustrations do not specifically depict the incidents described in the accompanying text it becomes clear that they are integral to the theme of healing through creative expression. Creativity is her ticket out of hell. Some passages are harrowing, some poignant, all intimate and engaging. A mosaic of riveting episodes coalesces into a larger arc as she navigates “the duality dance” of darkness and light that form the vortex of her existence. Even now I get chills when I contemplate her experience of “the baby-faced monster.” That her light and spirit are not snuffed out but burnished to incandescence in the aftermath is nothing short of a miracle. This is a brave excavation of painful places that refuses to wallow in defeat but triumphs over darkness. A gentle grace infuses both the text and the artwork. Insights and inspiration flow out of her struggles. Her generous spirit shines.”
Raymond Kerr
Overcomes Adversity in a positive light.
“Wonderful insightful read. Clare has risen above many life events without bitterness in her heart. She relates a positive and spiritual way to overcome adversity. This is a must read book.”
Tinki Mapes
“I’ve personally known Clare for quite a while, through art (framing) and through skating. I’ve consequently known quite a few of her “stories.” But reading this beautifully written book took them to a whole other level for me. It has everything, and really will absolutely inspire anyone who reads it. Clare is a fabulous writer, amidst all her other amazing talents! Love all the photos at the end too! (And the 7 Fs! Gonna use that for sure!) Thanks, Clare & Bodhi, for a memorable experience in reading this book!”
Elaine Monsef
“I read the book in a little over 2 days and was amazed on how Clare Cooley was able to overcome so many tragic things happening to her through being in nature that allowed her to heal and come away a better person . To be able to see to let go of pain and forgive is a very hard thing to do. It’s a lesson that we all need to learn to become a free and loving being. Let love rule! Thanks Clare Cooley for sharing your stories. May it help many more who have experienced pain and find it hard to forgive.”
Amazon Customer Paul
Incandescence, by Clare Cooley, shines with a light all its own.
“Incandescence: Rising Above Darkness, by Clare Cooley, shines with a light all its own. The author describes the most personal moments and experiences that shaped her life, even those that could have destroyed her body or spirit, with a directness and acceptance that only a singularly strong person could express. Her spirituality and other innate gifts, interwoven with a fierce determination not only to survive but to thrive joyfully, all combine to make this nonfiction saga an unforgettable read.”
Virginia Johns
Exemplifies art and appreciation of personality and motives as a path to enlightenment
“I had buried it deep in my own heart like people burying the family jewels as the enemy approaches” … Again and again throughout this book Clare Cooley’s imagery helps all of us identify what we tend to do when we are injured, why we do it, and how we can reclaim the power of love rather than perpetuate knee jerk reactions.
I love the format of the book: vignettes bordered by Clare’s meticulously elegant original artwork. The intermittent visual meditations invite the reader to reflect for a moment and then clear the mind for what comes next.
Some chapters are painful, even shocking, yet in spite of the pain which would motivate most of us to obsess on mere justice or victimization or revenge, Clare consistently seeks something more artistic, creative, and spiritual: forgiveness or redemption. “Forgiveness is the best revenge.”
Some chapters are adventurous and witty. Sometimes you will marvel that Clare endured all of that. Hardship or challenges helped forge her cleverness.
Clare’s family relationships are complex. Her mother’s voice is like a spirit guide, and helps her navigate.
Clare’s descriptions are vivid and you are right there with her, compelled not as much by boldness as by an artistic mind to confront the sleazy with truth, or surprise the defensive with humility. She has encountered a wide range of personality types and lays bare their motives with the kind of surgical precision you see in her illustrations.
Clare’s journey is a series of lessons by example of her own extraordinary life on how to cope, how to spiritually grow, how to find your way by yielding when you should, and asserting yourself when you should, and how to find the tools to achieve those effects by striving to appreciate the uniqueness of your own personality as well as everyone else’s, and how those personalities might best interact. In a word: love.
“Incandescence” — the title presents the book to me as a semi-opaque pileup of shimmering pages, ready to transmit experience. Trust me, you will gain insight from this incandescent book!
Lillian Crist
REVIEWS ON GOODREADS
“Clare’s ability to create light out of the darkness is both therapeutic and inspiring!”
“Despite this book being written about the trials and tribulations of Clare’s life, I found myself eagerly looking forward to reading this every night before bed because of the serenity her story gave me. Especially after a hard day at work. Her story is eloquently written, deeply colorful, and peppered with humor. I loved seeing all her beautiful artworks and funny chapter headings at the beginning of each new chapter.
Never once did I feel the weight of sorrow of her experiences, but rather I felt the softness of forgiveness. Although it was written as an autobiography, I learned from it as though it had been written for instruction on how to love despite pain caused by others.
I highly recommend this book for anyone! This will be on my permanent re-read list.”
“Incandescence is a powerful, evocative, and at times challenging, view into the mind of a self-made successful artist, who came from a family so dysfunctional that she was able to get away with dropping out of school at seven years old. Clare retells the journey of teaching herself from those formative years on, how to think, how to express, and how to navigate a world fraught with danger. This is a raw story of a family torn apart by abuse and addiction. Clare’s story of motherhood, creating a career for herself in the arts, and rising above trauma and adversity is aspirational and inspiring.
Clare’s authentic voice guides you along a twisting and sometimes very dark path, with sensitivity, depth, and even refreshing humor. I can promise that any reader no what background or experiential overlap with the author will find uplifting takeaways from Incandescence. Clare’s mission in writing this book was to share what she has learned about turning great “adversity into good.”
The current edition of the book is also filled with 60+ images of her beautiful and calming nature-inspired art. The art serves as a contemplative-calm moment between each of the dynamic stories.”