There are two things in life that cannot be faked: true talent and genuine gratitude. Robert Lococo, a Colorado Springs School graduate and Cheyenne Mountain neighborhood resident, is fortunate to be in possession of both.

From June 4-25, a selection of Lococo’s paintings titled: “Here A Bird, There A Bird, Everywhere a Bird Bird” was exhibited at G44 Gallery, 121 E. Boulder St. in downtown Colorado Springs. He expressed considerable gratitude toward the attendees, who represented many phases along the path that has led him to becoming the talented artist that he is today.

Lococo’s path has not been without challenges that might have led a lesser person to simply give up. In the late 1990s, Lococo’s family moved from Cedar Crest, N.M., to a home in the Broadmoor neighborhood, where his parents, Michael and Karen Lococo, continue to reside today. He attended Broadmoor Elementary School and Cheyenne Mountain Junior High School, and his artistic skills took root and began to flourish.

Lococo’s mother, Karen Lococo, had a passion for crafting pottery pieces, and he feels like a lot of his own creativity came through her influence and enthusiasm. Lococo’s “Grandma Carole” (Maytag) took note of his budding talents and suggested to his parents that he receive specialized and intensive instruction.

When he was in 6th grade, Lococo began studying with international artist Herman Raymond, who at one time was the artist for The Broadmoor. Through high school, Lococo was a member of Raymond’s High Country Artist Association of Old Colorado City. This is where Lococo says he started gaining an understanding of art.

As a high school freshman, Lococo entered Colorado Springs School, a private, nonprofit, college preparatory school in the Broadmoor neighborhood. Hans Wolfe, his art teacher at CSS, was “instrumental in my art career,” says Lococo. “He’s a big part of a lot of people’s art experience, and dedicated to teaching.”

Another teacher at CSS, Miss Campbell, also offered unique learning experiences to Lococo through art classes and other venues. In his sophomore year, Lococo engaged in an Experience Centered Seminar through CSS and traveled with Campbell and 12 other students to Alaska. They engaged in art projects in wood carving and bead pottery. Other ECS classes gave Lococo the opportunity to learn pottery and weaving, and to teach art and instrumental music to elementary school children.

Wolfe had taught at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago prior to coming to CSS. Through his mentor’s recommendation, Lococo headed to the “Windy City” after graduating from CSS, eventually earning a Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree from SAIC in 2013. This is where he met intense challenges that would guide and change the course of his artistic career.

Lococo’s early focus in college was working with ceramics, metal, fiber, oil paint and especially wood. One year before graduating from SAIC, Lococo accidentally severed the fingers on his right hand. A surgeon was able to reattach them, but he lost the ability to bend the joints of those fingers.

After his accident, Lococo returned home to Colorado Springs for the next 18 months to “reset.” He started painting landscapes and segued into what became an obsession for painting birds. Once again, Lococo credits his high school teachers with instilling in him a curiosity about bird behavior and ecology. Lococo describes the inspiration he receives by celebrating birds in his paintings as: “Conversation between my joy of birds and my passion as an artist.”

The city of Chicago always felt “weirdly confining” to Lococo, he said. He knew he wanted to return to friends and family in the Colorado Springs area once he received his college degree. He said he is continuously inspired in Colorado by his love of hiking, birding, the outdoors and nature.

“I have an entrepreneurial approach,” Lococo says. He substitute teaches on occasion, but his focus is on creating art. Prior to the pandemic, Lococo traveled throughout the central United States selling his paintings at art fairs. He also exhibits his work in galleries.

The COVID pandemic has given Lococo an opportunity to regroup and look into his future.

Lococo describes his art as experimental and exploratory, as he continues to learn and produce better pieces. He envisions teaching art classes to children and adults in his large walkout-basement studio.

Lococo expresses appreciation to all the significant people who have been part of his journey so far. He credits Wolfe as being particularly influential. Also, “I’m thankful for everyone who has helped me from people at church, to art and science teachers, to the Boy Scouts,” said Lococo, an Eagle Scout.