William Cook
Printmaker
Bio: William is a self-taught northwest printmaker and painter, showing in creative and artistic spaces around the Puget Sound region over the last decade. Before becoming an artist, he played in five bands, most notably in the Americana band Spoonshine, and worked as a touring musician until he married and started a family—and found that the visual arts were better suited to domestic life. William works in different forms of printmaking with a focus on linocut and monotype, and he teaches at Happy Time Studio.
On creative process: “Painters will get what they call white fright of looking at a white canvas and just being frozen. I don't really get that. I have the opposite problem. I generally feel like I have so many ideas and there's so much subject matter, and I have so many sketches to work from that I feel like I'm more running to catch up to the train.”
On purpose: “Art has given me—not to sound corny—but a purpose, a cause. It serves as a tool of maintaining mental health and having a practice that keeps me focused on something positive in life.”
Hometown: Skagit Valley, Washington (he says he’s learned to love tulips… as an adult)
His favorite place near Issaquah: Green spaces like Evans Creek and Confluence Park. “And I’m very fond of the hatchery. I’m glad we have that right in the middle of town.”
Find William:
