About the Artist
So ... my name is Laurie Cook. Hopefully you've already figured that out.
One of my earliest memories is of drawing horses on the underside of the family coffee table. I like to equate that to Michelangelo painting on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel but unfortunately the comparison of myself to that great master doesn't go much further.
Raised in Southern California, I was lucky enough to attend Art Center College of Design back when it was still located on 3rd Street in LA. Recruited by Hallmark Cards prior to graduation, I transported my terrified 22 year old self to Kansas City; I had never been away from home before and didn't know a soul. My plan to work there for a year or two somehow stretched out to nearly twenty and endowed me with a lifetime of fabulous friendships with some very talented artists.
After returning to California, I licensed my art for a variety of products that included greeting cards, gift bags, home decor items, and children's books and toys. That was back in the day of having to rush to the post office to mail a precious gouache painting to the client, hoping it would arrive before the deadline and without too much dog hair in the wrapping. When the digital age dawned I taught myself Photoshop, working exclusively on a Cintiq and a Mac for nearly two decades. The ability to change a background color with a simple click of the keyboard was mind-blowing, not to mention that I could now email my art on the very day it was due!
Eventually I wound up working exclusively with a company that created dolls and inspirational product for children of every color. Our mission was to enhance each child’s confidence in the knowledge that they are perfect exactly as they are.
In my spare time, a love for hairy slobbering canines led me to volunteer my art services to several pet rescue organizations.
Throughout these years, I missed the smell of paint and the tactile feel of laying down a brushstroke. I also missed having something to physically hold in my hand that I had created.
So here I am, with a loaded brush and feeling consumed with the need to make up for lost time.
