Whether you know it or not, if you live the Bear Lake valley there’s a good chance you’ve seen the work of John Cook.
Cook painted most of the murals within the Oregon Trail Center when it opened in the late 1990s, and in 2018 added the mural inside the Montpelier library. Most recently, he’s begun decorating the walls of Bear Lake Memorial Hospital.
The first contribution of Cook’s to the building is a panorama of Bear Lake on three canvases, newly installed in the hallway between the main lobby and the wing that houses the radiology and emergency units.
“This whole concept was thought about by Shawn Tobler,” said Cook. “He said the hospital needs some art. I went in there and said, this place is blank. It needs some stuff. And I know how to do that.”
Tobler, who is the director of mental health services at the hospital, told Cook that the hospital foundation had money for the project, but Cook declined that part of the offer.
“I said I don’t want to make money, but I want to make art. So I’m a volunteer. The foundation is paying for the materials.”
Part of those materials include a newly constructed easel perhaps eighteen feet in length, to accommodate the sort of panoramic painting that is now hanging inside BLMH. The easel sits in Cook’s studio on Fourth Street, which still bears the signage of the hair salon that preceded him.
“When I retired in 2017 and came back to Montpelier, I lived with [the owners] for six months, and I put all my art stuff back here [in the rear of the former salon]. Artists have a lot of stuff. I had this for four years, and Rick said, why don’t you make this your own? So this is where I’ve been.”
The studio is now filled with books, old projects, works in progress, and a cat named Jasper. Cook explained that he lived 38 places in his forty-year career, and bought a lot of books and tools along the way.
“I have all these reference books I’ve collected over the years. When I did a set design, I would buy books. I did Joseph and the Technicolor Dreamcoat; I bought that history. I worked for Disney in ‘88/’89. Lived in LA, in Burbank.”
The Disney job, like many others for Cook, sprang up by a phone call.
“A friend called me and said, I’m working at Disney, you should be here. It’s perfect for you. So I flew out, they interviewed me, and they hired me.
“Disney Stores had a whole group that did the theming, the decoration of the stores. I was hired on the thirteenth store, and worked through the eighty-eighth store, and I left. It was just…it was a wonderful experience. We’d go to the stores, then go back to the studio to make the stuff that we were installing. It was a lot of fun. It was just…a lot.” By his tone Cook indicated that he was ready to slow down a little.
He subsequently had significant stints in Tuacahn (near St. George), Salt Lake City, Denver, and Jackson, among all the others. The Jackson work included backdrops for theater sets, several of which hang in the studio amid the books and other pieces.
On the long easel during this interview was a series of four paintings, also bound for BLMH once they are complete.
“These are going to go into the hospital: the four seasons. I’ve got winter done, and I’m working on spring, summer, and fall.”
Cook has a personal history with the hospital: “My mother was the original registered nurse. She came here from Malad in 1950. It was late getting open, and she helped get it ready, get it painted, all that. Then she met my dad and they were married in ’52. She was forty when I was born in ’55.”
Aside from the hospital commissions, Cook has a handful of other works underway, including a re-creation of a photo of old-time film actress Lillian Gish.
“I found a picture of her that’s just beautiful. I’m going to paint it in the style of Alphonse Mucha. He’s a Polish artist.” Showing samples of the intricate style, he says, “You’ve seen these things? Beautiful. I love his artwork. All of this was done by hand, before computers were created. Incredible stuff.”
Are his new pieces bound for a gallery somewhere?
“No! I’m just painting. I’m done, I retired. I’ve painted for people all over the place. Now I’m just painting what I want to paint. I don’t know if they’re going anywhere.”