Richard Cook

Fueling a Fertile Creative Journey

September 27, 2013

8:23 AM

Knotted driftwood, discarded ice hooks, forgotten furniture parts and old tools ignite Richard Cook’s imagination much like a sky full of clouds sets a child’s imagination to conjuring elephants and angels. The intricate contours of a weathered branch, an old window pulley and rusty escutcheons are some of the unlikely objects that shape his distinctive herd of animal sculptures and abstract creations. Objects that rarely engage the awareness of most people are the very pieces calling out to Cook. A truncated tree limb claimed by a storm, now nestled among leaves and rocks by the river, becomes, in his mind, the red feather of a proud rooster, a poignant plant leaf, part of a horse clothed in rainbows, and much more.

Cook’s first show was at the State Theatre Center for the Arts in Easton earlier this year (running from April through July). The venue’s and the public’s responses were enthusiastic. Many who had never seen his art before were surprised to experience him bursting onto the scene fully formed with his aesthetic charms roundly displayed. In the last four decades, I have attended well over a thousand art shows coast to coast. His was one of the rare events where, much to my surprise, I liked every piece in the exhibition.

From the age of four, cartooning and drawing were as natural as breathing to Cook. Being creative was a gift he enjoyed and expressed effortlessly throughout his youthful years. His classmates were drawn to his clever work and art became a conduit for developing friendships. Cook continued creating two-dimensional art at Phillipsburg High School where he also developed into a formidable wrestler.

From the age of four, cartooning and drawing were as natural as breathing to Cook.

He decided to attend Clarion State College because of their highly regarded wrestling program. Fortuitously, one of his art instructors at the school pulled him aside and told him he was way too talented as an artist to be messing around with wrestling. Cook decided to shift his focus to art and eventually transferred to Kutztown University to take advantage of their excellent art program.

At Kutztown he studied graphic design and wood design. Since he transferred to the school late, he had to negotiate with professors to enter the program at an advanced level. Although he was learning alongside students who had been taking serious art classes for many years, Cook excelled.

His first wood design class changed his world. Under the expert guidance of professor John Stoltz he found his core calling. Cook enthusiastically shared, “I was so good at it. I was already a designer and I intuitively knew how to build things. Everything fell into place. From Day One I thought, ‘I love this!’”

In the mid 1980s, Cook and his brother started a small company that manufactured wooden giftware called Little Apple Craftsman. That venture morphed into a company called Dancor, which focused on making three-dimensional greeting cards called Wood Notes. These wooden cards were ahead of their time and sold, for a brief time, on a national level. Their first year in business, Home & Garden magazine chose them as one of their top 10 Christmas picks.

He continued creating custom woodwork and consistently maintained a workshop throughout the years. Cook stayed very busy supporting his family and devoted as much time as possible to his art. In the late ’80s, he managed to find the time to make a piece for the Lehigh Valley Art Alliance’s prestigious yearly show and captured second place honors. The next year he made a cabinet for the crafts division of the competition and won first prize.

For three decades he continued creating abstract pieces with exotic hardwoods. Cook never added color to these sculptures, always allowing the wonderful properties of the wood to speak for themselves.

In the ‘90s he worked as a graphic designer for Binney & Smith, Inc. of Easton (now known as Crayola, LLC). Eventually he was promoted to art design manager. Although he enjoyed this job for many years he decided to open his own store, Nature Nook, in 1996. This unique retail space (located in Downtown Easton) carried plants, exotic pets and all things nature-related. The shop was enthusiastically embraced by Lehigh Valley residents. Cook recalls warmly, “I treated the store like a big sculpture. In my head and my heart—that’s how I thought of it. I would go in and make it beautiful, aesthetically appealing, warm and peaceful. I was pretty successful at achieving that.”

Maintaining the store became challenging as his wife, Kathy Cook, became increasingly ill with ALS. In the summer of 2009 he would steal away to his studio in the early hours of the morning for some therapeutic creativity. One night he began making a sculpture and for the first time, he added color to the wood. He was pleased with this fresh direction and took the piece to show his wife. She was thrilled with the results and let him know she wanted him to continue creating sculptures after she was gone. Her inspiration and encouragement continue to fuel his fertile creative journey.

Cook’s curious collection of objects set to inspire future sculptures are intuitively filling up his Easton studio. I was fascinated by the rich diversity of expressive shapes on hand and wondered how he had acquired these useful cast-offs. He is a kind of avant-garde “American Picker,” who always has an eye peeled for that next great find. He gathers pieces during his walks along the river, from frequenting flea markets and antique shops to rescuing relics the neighbors have marked for the dumpster. Over the years his friends have figured into the mix and frequently donate materials. A cursory survey of his workspace and downtown property reveals enough cool stuff to make many new pieces in the years to come.

Her inspiration and encouragement continue to fuel his fertile creative journey.

Cook’s art is one of accretion and the complex balance he achieves by deftly harmonizing colors, shapes, woods and metal objects has propelled his sculptures into the realm of the contemporary covet-worthy. His technique for building a piece, while deeply intuitive, involves a lot of trial and error. Cook adds color to each piece before it is attached to a sculpture as a head, wing, tail or an abstract section. Every addition alters the whole. Since one work contains dozens of components, he is constantly recalibrating the design as the burgeoning art bends toward completion. Given the wide range of materials and the unique nature of each piece attached, his work is strikingly different from every angle. One can turn a creation 180 degrees and be greeted by a fresh three-dimensional composition. His patience, quirky sensibility and broad aesthetic skill set make his abstract and representational pieces engaging and challenging for the viewer.

So what’s ahead for Cook? He is currently committing illustrations to paper that take him away from his amazing medium-sized work. The public should now keep their eyes peeled for miniatures as well as life-size sculptures exploring the human form, as well as a five-feet-tall aquatic themed piece. Cook’s boundless creativity is shifting gears and his funky family of three-dimensional art is bound to bring more unexpected flavor to the Lehigh Valley arts scene.

See more of Cook’s work online at richcooksculptor.tumblr.com.

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