Remembering the life, career, studio and artworks of Jenny Cook who has died aged 80.
Jenny Cook studied as a painter at Harris Art School in her home town of Preston, before training as a teacher in Leicester in the sixties. Jenny was introduced to painting on flat glass when she spent three months in Murano with her husband, glass maker John Cook. They set up home in Leicestershire and Jenny began working as a freelance artist on glass and acrylic sheets and then flat wooden panels. Jenny was inspired by all things botanical, buildings in the landscape and occasionally birds and animals.
Jenny's work underwent a transformation when she discovered the power of altering her support, by carving into the wood with a fretsaw and carving tools and then applying acrylic paint. Jenny mostly upcycled wood from industrial packaging being influenced by the knots and grain of the rough wood, which impart a richness of surface. Her unique wall panels and free-standing pieces are in many public and private collections both in the UK and abroad.
She took part in many exhibitions throughout the country. In 1976 and 1978 she had two successful one-woman shows in London’s Mercury Gallery. In 1982 she exhibited 120 paintings at New Walk Museum & Art Gallery, eighty of which were borrowed from various public and private collections, the rest painted new for the show. In 1997 she had a one–woman show at the City Gallery in Granby Street.
Jenny was elected a member of LSA in 1998 and the Society benefitted from her service on the LSA Council.
"Leicester has been very hospitable to this Lancashire lass, for which I am truly grateful."
Jenny Cook (2016)"
Jenny passed peacefully away on 17th August, 2023.
Towards the Light, carved and painted wood
