For
those of you who don’t know her, Art Guild of Pacifica Member Lynette Cook is
an accomplished fine artist and self-described over achiever who began her
formal education juggling a love for art with a love of science. Rather than choose, however, she embraced
both and graduated from California College of the Arts with an MFA in drawing, specializing
in scientific illustration.
As
a self-employed artist, Lynette enjoys the privilege of working with esteemed
scientists, the most notable of which is Dr. Geoff Marcy, an astrophysicist who
took part in the discovery of over 2500 extrasolar planets to date. An extrasolar planet is a planet discovered
outside our solar system. Lynette was
given the opportunity to render many of those discoveries in paint and later using
the computer. As a result of these
endeavors, Lynette’s illustrations have been published in many scientific
journals and periodicals. Her work also has been published in a variety of formats
produced by BBC Television, CNN, The Discovery Channel, Scientific American,
NASA, Newsweek, and more.
I
had the opportunity to sit and talk with Lynette recently. We discussed where her art intersects with
business, what motivates and inspires her, and we also discussed her battle
with cancer.
Donna: Do you find your passion in your
art?
Lynette: I find some of it there certainly. But I
would also say it’s tempered by the fact that my art has to be my business, and
when art is a business and one has to think of it as a business, it brings the
world into it in a way that perhaps creative people do not always prefer. With the science illustration I’ve done, the
client’s needs come first, certainly before any personal inspiration. Perhaps I can put my own flair on the work to
some degree, but nevertheless, I believe that science illustration is art in the service of science.
Also,
the science illustration is so much intellectual stimulation. It is about meeting the needs of others and
doing what is accurate. Science has to
be accurate. It isn’t really about having
a personal vision of something or doing it on your own unilaterally.
Donna:
You have to bridle your talent.
Lynette: Yes. From 1984 until 2009 that’s what I
did. I did a little fine art here and
there, but frankly there wasn’t time for both.
As a professional artist of any kind, you’re supposed to keep producing
new work and getting it out there.
Essentially, I would have to have two careers and time and energy for
that, and of course, I didn’t.
Donna:
So you started doing more fine art ... did it make you feel better?
Lynette:
No,
it made me feel worse!
(laughter)
Donna:
Why?
Lynette: Well, I’ve been around the block as an
artist. Being a fine artist isn’t any
easier if you’re going to make a living, to sell your work and get it out
there. I knew it was not an easy road, so
there was a part of me that really didn’t want to acknowledge that fine art was
calling me and that I had to respond.
Donna:
What I’ve discovered about art is that if you’re going to attach
expectations to it, particularly to the outcome, you can be disappointed.
Lynette: Well, I think that’s true with most things in
life.
Donna:
I would rather not be bridled in my art the way you described it,
although in my opinion you were doing so for all the right reasons, and you’ve
gotten so much out of it in return. You
make a good living. I’d like to know one
thing. If you remove the economic side
of it, do you derive personal satisfaction from doing more fine art?
Lynette: Quite a bit, yes.
Donna:
Tell me about the period of introspection you mention in your website’s
biography.
Lynette: In 2009, I was
diagnosed with breast cancer. I thought,
“What have I done wrong?” I
think it’s human nature to ask if this was caused by nonstick pans, too much
meat and ice cream, or too little exercise. I tried to make some changes in my
life. I knew I had to find a
constructive way to deal with it, and I was determined to get something
positive out of it. I couldn’t get
totally lost in despair or anxiety.
Donna: I’ve never had cancer, but I can
imagine it would be too easy to get despondent.
Lynette: Oh it’s totally easy. But, I said to myself, “What I’m going to do
is pretend my cancer can talk, and I’m going to ask it what I need to do in my
life to make the right change.” And so I asked it, “what can you tell me about
my life that I need to deal with, to know, to question. What’s the message
here?” Then, I got into a workshop for
cancer survivors, and we did meditation, and a lot of other good things. I was dealing with my questions there, as well
as on my own.
Donna:
Did you get an answer?
Lynette: Well, yes.
I had been painting with pixels on a computer for a long time, and my
heart was leading me back to fine art and painting with brush and paint on a physical
canvas.
It’s
also about getting in touch with inner thoughts and feelings, using imagery as
a metaphor for one’s life experience. I
do the space art when a project comes along.
Now with the economy being what it is, there isn’t as much work as there
once was, so that does allow me more time for painting. I’m also doing things like applying for grants
and working on my website and trying to do my blog. All these things take time, so I’m not in the
studio painting like I need to be.
Inventory is important. One needs
inventory!
Essentially,
I have two kinds of work, and one group is what I had at the 50-50: things that
I love around me and in the environment.
They’re fun and they’re beautiful, and they can be anything from a
dessert that I just love to eat, it’s so fantastic, or a flower that I see when
I am taking a walk or even a particular building. The second group of work is historical brick
and stone structures, which I find fascinating and challenging.
These
are things in my environment that I take pleasure from. My realistic style makes me tight with the
detail, and I think it draws the viewer into it, and they really notice the
detail with fresh eyes somehow. So, that
part is pure enjoyment. I render images
that I think are fun and beautiful and doing so gives me variety, and it helps
me pay attention to what’s around me, too.
Part
of having a life that I value and enjoy is seeing the little things because the
big things don’t come around every day.
***
Since
focusing on fine art, Lynette has experienced many successes, the most recent
of which is being awarded a 2013 grant from the Capelli d’Angeli Foundation,
which offers grants of up to $500 to women artists of specified disciplines who are or
have been in treatment for cancer. The
accepted disciplines are painting, sculpture, all kinds of photography and
mixed media. Feel free to learn more by
viewing the Foundation’s site at www.capellidangelifoundation.org. Lynette also recently received Best in Show in the Richeson 75 Small Works 2013 exhibition in Kimberly,
Wisconsin. It comes with a sizable cash
award, as well. See more here.
I spoke with Lynette for almost an hour, and as much as I’d
like to, I can’t include the entire transcript here. While I thoroughly enjoyed our discussion,
and found her character, determination, and strength engaging, there is one more
detail I find most intriguing.
If
there is one thing I feel we can count on in our modern times, other than
change, that is, it’s irony. If you look
closely enough, you’ll see it everywhere.
As
it transforms the world, for example, technology lays low some of what we
thought we could count on. Publishing
has been forever changed by electronic readers like the Nook and Kindle. The irony is that both aspiring and
accomplished authors can publish their own work and have it listed on
Amazon.com in no time whatsoever.
Technology
has changed the art world, as well, in significant ways, and not just by
allowing the presence of virtual galleries.
While this isn’t the case with Lynette, who is extremely comfortable
with both email and web design, for artists who don’t use email comfortably or
at all, these changes can be daunting.
In the recent past, we’ve entered juried exhibitions by filling out an
application in writing, photographing our work, mailing it all by good old
snail mail (USPS) and allowing our talent to handle the rest. Now, most juried exhibitions are expedited by
programs designed just for that purpose, like callforentry.org, which was used
for the upcoming Left Coast Annual at Sanchez Art Center.
While
it may be argued that digital photographs leave something to be desired in the
jurying process, the upside is that the internet provides an artist with an
increased presence via a website “storefront” and even a personal brand, making
us more recognizable and easier to find.
It can also significantly extend an artist’s reach, allowing us to enter
juried exhibitions all over the United States and even the world. The irony is that anyone, despite talent or
education, can declare themselves an artist and enjoy the perks the internet
has to offer.
Lynette’s
brush with irony came as she initially introduced her fine art into the gallery
environment and was told that she shouldn’t be there because her history with
science illustration wasn’t really art. Even
still, gallery staffs have been so bold as to claim Lynette is “just starting
out” and should price her pieces accordingly.
She writes on her web page’s biography, “Up until the mid-2000s most of
my space art was "original" in every sense, created by hand with
pigment on paper. To my mind the "illustration versus fine art"
distinction has many shades of gray, with no clear delineation of one from the
other. I've exhibited these pieces in numerous exhibits at scientific and
educational institutions, and many of my originals have been sold. Yet so far,
astronomical art is not recognized by the fine art community of retail
galleries and art museums.”
The depth and realism of Lynette Cook's talent is unquestionable, and yet the validity of her fine art has been questioned.
To me, this proves that no matter what our personal challenges, even the most talented artist can be subject to the on-going debate between commercial art and fine art.
I find that most ironic.
By Donna L. Faber
Board Secretary
Art Guild of Pacifica
donnalouisefaber.com
