Mountain Arts Network & Gallery
Lisa Cook
Lisa Cook was born in Lake Charles, Louisiana, and raised in New Orleans. Lisa Cook spent much of her childhood in the shadow of the infamous French Quarter. The visual maelstrom of female strippers and dancers in sequins, jewels, and stage costumes informs her painting, as does her extensive collection of vintage burlesque memorabilia and posed pin-up models of the 1940’s. Tamer influences,of Austrian painter Egon Schiele, New Orleans artist George Rodrigue, and Alberto Vargas are also acknowledged by Cook.
Lisa Cook has a Bachelor of Arts in Studio and Fine Arts from Loyola Marymount University. Never far from her work, Cook has chosen to maintain her studio and many works-in-progress in her home in the mountains.
She relishes the immediacy of painting when instincts and impulses demand such activity. Though academically informed, Cook found the rigid structure of academic art classes less than pleasurable for the most part, as this was not in congruence with her working processes and her chosen artistic direction. She treasures the wisdom of an excellent professor, Rudolph Fleck from whom she learned philosophies and theories of art.
Cook’s painting techniques evolved as she experimented on her own with media and artist’s tools, refining what succeeds for her work and discarding what does not. The result is an undeniably unique artist’s voice and vision. Cook is driven with an artist’s passion to encounter, and in painting, this exploration results in acknowledgement of beauty in what is often maligned or passed over.
Lisa Cook lives in Lake Arrowhead, CA., with her husband Graeme Gale, six cats, and an eclectic collection of vintage burlesque memorabilia.
Contact Lisa: lisa@llcook.com or visit her website: http://llcook.com
Lisa started designing and making jewelry out of her Los Angeles, CA apartment in 1982. Over the years and throughout her travels,she gathered a collection of curiosities and used them to develop a line of jewelry with an emphasis on craftsmanship and affordability. The collection grew exponentially, as has her fan base. There seems to be a never-ending demand for locally made, affordable environment-inspired jewelry, designed with a sense of humor. She is inspired by nature, many cultures and traditions as well as the organic and fluid lines of the Art Nouveau era.
Lisa believes the Earth's treasures are stored in gemstones and crystals, and makes her jewelry with as many of the planet's natural elements as possible.They are the carriers of Earth's vibrational energy. There is a sense of freedom, strength, and the nurturing of her soul after she has finished that perfect piece. Artist expression and progression are both stimulating and rewarding. Assembling myriad bits and pieces into a work of beauty has been a very therapeutic process for her.
