Born in 1970 in Columbia, SC, Trahern Cook, aka Easel Cathedral, has been drawing and painting and telling stories his entire life. In 1992, Cook graduated from the Ringling College of Art and Design with a focus on Illustration and worked as a full-time freelance illustrator from 1993 until the 2000s. When he moved back to Columbia in 2006, he took his easel outside and has been painting all over the southeast and abroad ever since. His work is shown in private galleries, homes, and businesses throughout the country.
Dubbing his style of painting as relational and experiential, Easel Cathedral has coined himself a “Jam Painter” given that so much of his subject matter is musicians from various genres performing everywhere from small taverns to large outdoor festivals, exploring brush strokes and colors, and matching the rhythm of the music he hears.
As a “live painter” of events and weddings, Cook creates visual stories of his surroundings in his own unique painterly style, marrying a free folk recklessness with a trained and practiced deliberateness. This performance shares the space with everyone in attendance, enhancing the moment and using the moment to inform the painting itself.
As The Jasper Project’s featured Third Thursday artist for the month of February, Cook’s art will be exhibited from Thursday February 19th until the third week of March in Jasper’s Nook Gallery on the 2nd tier of the Koger Center for the Arts.
An opening reception will be held Thursday February 19th from 5:30 - 7 pm. The event is free and open to the public.
