Brett Cook: A Creative Person

To begin, I am a rabid appreciator of painting. To be more precise, I wear thousands of paintings on my psyche at all times, Like a bodysuit of tattoos within the skin. My favorites include old masters like Caravaggio and modern day artists like Leonid Afremov. Paintings and drawings are symphonies to me, while posters, ads, and so forth, are catchy jingles. Brett Cook is a composer of the highest measure, and yet in the video he showed us about his community project in Durham, NC, he was labeled as a Creative Person. It seemed very peculiar and provoked a few restrained laughs last night when this appeared on screen. I can only assume that this is his title for himself, because the production company that made the video would almost definitely prefer something more streamlined like artist. But this title speaks volumes to what Brett is really climbing toward in his work and in his life. It's simply him talking the talk to support the walking the walk he does so well. I am biased by the fact that I have long worked toward perfecting a style that is similar to the work of artists' like Brett and Lucien Freud. If I were him, you can wager your life I would call myself an artist. But Brett truly understands what he wanted us all to define; Community and Soul. Every human being is a creative person. There is not one man, or woman, or even infant who has not created something, even if it simply a thought. Brett is not a creative black person, a creative man, a creative teacher, just a creative person. He is more than the sum of his parts because painting is something he does, (Very, very well, for sure) but a creator in communion with all of the people he surrounds himself with is what he is.