Saturday, May 23, 2015, Brooks Institute Screening Room, 6-7:30 p.m.

Please join us for our Saturday Artist Spotlight interview featuring Susan Cook at the Brooks Institute Screening Room in Ventura. All ages welcome! Susan Cook is a contemporary fine artist whose oil paintings are inspired by nature and an interest in experimenting with figuration, color and shapes. Initially, her paintings are quickly drawn, going through many color transformations with her signature brushwork, often destroying entire sections and repainting others to give focus. Josef Woodard wrote in his Los Angeles Times article that "her brusque brushwork leans away from details and edges of things, flirting with abstraction at times". The effects of light are central in her work.

As a young woman, Cook worked as a legal secretary before attending USC, majoring in physical therapy. However, she chose to postpone her studies to care for her family which included her husband, Bob, and their two children. As a re-entry student at Ventura College, she developed a passion for painting working under such remarkable faculty as Hiroko Yoshimoto, Carlisle Cooper and Robert Moskowitz. She transferred to CSUCI and earned her Bachelor's Degree in Art, graduating Summa Cum Laude in 2003.  Cook is the proud recipient of many awards including the 2011 City of Ventura Mayor's Art Award, Artist in the Community. She currently serves on the Standards Committee at SCIART, has served on the Public Art Commission for the City of Ventura and as a board member for numerous local art organizations, including the Ventura Music Festival. Her paintings are currently on display at Fox Fine Jewelry.

To learn more about Susan visit: www.SusanCook.com

Sponsored by Tracy Long & Don Taylor

Ongoing Sponsors: Brooks Institute, Dennis Mitchell at I Capelli Salon, Passion Flowers, Pulse One, Peterson Graphics and  Lovina Designs

AfterGLOW Fundraising Event: Join us for a celebratory supper immediately following the interview at the Ojai home of Christine & Kevin Beirne.  Please bring a warm wrap. We expect the AfterGLOW to sell out.  Maps will be given to paid guests at the interview. The AfterGLOW dinner is $20 for FOTM members, $30 for non-members. Paid reservations are required prior to May 19.

 All proceeds benefit Focus on the Masters education programs.