Artist Bio:Robert John Cook is an American artist born in 1956 on the coast of Rhode Island. He moved to the seaside town of Scituate, MA when he was 10 years old. Spending hours on the beach as a child he became enchanted with the seaside and recognized a spiritual affinity to the ocean.Robert uses palette knife, brush and oil paint to create landscapes and seascapes, layering color to create texture and depth- inviting the viewer to explore his work and discover, using their own interpretations, what they see. His technique captures the ever changing moods of nature. Robert is also known for his sculptures made from clay, bronze or found items such as driftwood.Robert studied painting and sculpture with artist Michael Andryc in Santa Fe in 1981,1994 and 2001. While living in Europe, and working as an Engineer, Robert immersed himself in art and painted in the same spots as his favorite painters - Van Gogh, Seurat, Cezanne and Gauguin.Robert moved to Cape Cod in 2005 to be part of the vibrant year-round artist community. He has been honored with admission to juried shows, juried membership into premier guilds; he has curated shows at the Cape Museum of Art including the largest attended show in museum history, “The Salon Refuses” in 2009. Robert's personal credo – “Making your mark on the world in a positive way is the ultimate goal” inspires him to help others and contribute to his community. He started an outreach program, “Welcome Home”, to assist veterans returning home from the war, matching an artist with a veteran and using the artistic process to work as a form therapy. Robert’s other artistic outlets include folk music and writing. He produced his first CD, “Just Folk”, in 2005 and his second CD, “Ta-Dah”, is currently in production. Robert has researched his family tree - branches reaching from The Mayflower (a descendant of five Pilgrims, including William Brewster) to County Galway, Ireland- and wrote a book titled Pride.Specialties: “Creative accomplishment impels me to create something from nothing, like my forefathers: Pilgrim and Irish immigrants who left persecution to start a new life, to create a ‘new world’. My art reflects the ‘new world’ that gave them, and us,a chance at peace and prosperity. I strive to create paintings that come alive to the viewer by using a diverse palette, knife and depth, pulling the viewer in to see the beauty in the abstract.”