Artist's Statement

While most of my art career has focused on urban landscape painting and pastels of my birthplace of Martha's Vineyard, I have a parallel track indulging in more conceptual work that incorporates text and whimsy. A graduate of the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, I'm grateful to have enjoyed a lengthy career with exhibits in Philadelphia, the Washington, D.C. metro area, and on Martha's Vineyard. My work has found a place in numerous private collections, and the Government of the District of Columbia, which owns five of my oil streetscapes of the city. After a hiatus from fine art, during which I pursued projects such as producing an album of original music, I returned to painting in 2019, completing an oil "portrait" of a local 90-year family business, Blue Bell Dry Cleaners in Melrose. The picture was purchased by the owners after being exhibited in the town's Windows Art Walk.

I am currently completing two distinct serieses: more urban streetscapes in the Boston area, and a group of family portraits, still lifes, interiors, and a range of playful subjects incorporating text elements. 

A.F. Cook, Spring 2022