issue 4
// art
Title: Late-April Snow // Artist: Janet Cooke
about the piece
| I’ve thought about T.S. Eliot’s poetic observation, “April is the cruelest month” ever since I first read “The Waste Land.” In the northeast in 2025, April was especially vindictive. The cherry trees had already flowered and the hostas were resplendent when eight inches of piercing snow frosted the landscape, threatening to kill the delicate blossoms and plants. The beauty was astonishing, though. Plant life, for all its seeming fragility, can be so resilient. I often feel the pull between vulnerability and strength during life’s inevitably ill-timed storms. Oil on linen panel 12” x 16” |
Title: Storefront Window // Artist: Janet Cooke
about the piece
| On a blindingly sunny day last summer I was walking by a general goods store in Provincetown, Massachusetts, when I noticed that the reflection in the storefront window was so pronounced it was difficult to tell what was inside and what was outside. I snapped one quick iPhone photo and was amazed to see the parked cars lined up perfectly with the interior shelves. It felt surreal but so much fun to paint ceramic bowls into the roof of a house and red wine vinegar bottles into its windows. In this complex, serendipitous scene captured so randomly, only a large scale canvas would do: This one is 2 1/2 feet high by 2 feet wide. |
about the artist // Janet Cooke
| Janet Cooke (she/her) worked at a major book publisher in sales and strategic planning for many years, before retiring to pursue her dream of becoming an oil painter. Inspired by the beauty, tranquility, and serenity surrounding her home in upstate NY, Janet’s expressively realistic canvases are a testament to her love for evoking emotion. She is a member of the American Impressionist Society, Oil Painters of America, and the Lower Adirondack Regional Arts Council. |
Instagram: @janet_cooke_art
Website: http://www.janetcookefineart.com
wildscape. literary journal 