Gary Cook
Biography
Gary Cook graduated from Arts University Bournemouth in 1987 and was made a Fellow in 1999. From 1988 to 2014, he worked for The Sunday Times as Associate and Graphics Editor, covering major international news stories and winning multiple Society of Newspaper Design awards, including a Gold Medal in 2001. He became a full-time artist in 2014 and has since exhibited widely, including with the Society of Graphic Fine Art, The Arborealists and the Royal West of England Academy. In 2018, he began exhibiting with the RI at the Mall Galleries. He has twice received Best in Show at Society of Graphic Fine Art exhibitions and won the Frank Herring Easel Award for Outstanding Work at the RI exhibition in 2023.
Artist Statement
Gary Cook is a Dorset-based environmental painter creating watercolour and ink montages that combine naturalistic painting with narrative script and subtle messages about sustainability. His approach is directly influenced by his background in the newspaper industry, where he worked as an associate editor and senior artist for The Sunday Times for 26 years.
Environmental concerns are central to his work. He incorporates messages about sustainability into each piece, often using silhouettes and names of species within his paintings to highlight the importance of threatened habitats. Oak trees, for example, provide habitats for around 2,300 different species, from bats and beetles to lichens and mammals.
Gary works mainly en plein air in ink and watercolour, completing details and adding layers of charcoal in the studio.