Nothing sketchy about it
10 artists showcase their sketches in new exhibit
Ed Cook has always drawn and painted, but he made his living as a machinist for nearly three decades. For the last 30 years or so, however, he’s made a second career from his first love. That work is currently on display at River Gallery in the Bluff View Art District.
A few days ago, he was at the gallery for a drawing demonstration and answering questions about his work. He told a gathering of a half dozen or so that it is very likely his work as a machinist, where detail and an attention to being precise are essential, has led him to sketch, and even paint, in miniature.
“I’ve always had a penchant for the precise,” he says. “When I try to paint big, I struggle.”
He laughingly told the audience that he once spent about 300 hours on a large painting (2-by-3 feet), painstakingly detailing every leaf, then managed to sell it for $150. His sketches fetch seven or eight times that and his paintings can cost in the thousands.
His miniatures are around 4-by-2 inches with subjects that can include landscapes and wildlife. His favorite, though, is old buildings.
“I like to imagine the stories they tell,” he says.
One thing he doesn’t do, however, are portraits.
“It’s just not something I’m good at,” he says.
Cook, who lives in Illinois, is no stranger to Chattanooga or River Street Gallery. In fact, he was the first artist booked for an exhibit and live demonstration at the gallery when owner Mary Portera opened it in 1992.
“She called and then called again and kept calling,” Cook laughs. “It was a new gallery and you just never know, but I’m really glad she kept calling and I’m glad I came. I love Chattanooga and the mountains.”
Portera says Cook’s miniature painting of a Stellar’s jay — a blue jay relative with a dark black head and deep blue body — caught her attention.
“The Stellar’s jay was a bird I knew nothing about, but his countenance took my attention,” she says. “Ed’s attention to miniature detail, this composition, and the bird’s demand for attention drew me in without resistance.
“I am not an academic in the arts, but finding someone of Ed’s quality was a true gift to me and his future collectors. And he said ‘yes’ to a fledgling gallery owner.”