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Famous DevoniansYou are in: Devon > History > Famous Devonians > Beryl Cook: a Profile  One of Beryl Cook's colourful paintings Beryl Cook: a ProfileArtist Beryl Cook lived in Plymouth for much of her life, and her paintings depict some of the colourful characters she encountered in the city. She died peacefully in Plymouth in May 2008.
Help playing audio/video Beryl Cook painted for some 40 years. Well known and much loved in her home county of Devon, she was largely snubbed by the the nation's major art galleries. Art critics also look down their noses at Beryl Cook's paintings of the colourful characters she has encountered in Plymouth, where she lived. Born in Surrey in 1926, she first started to paint after using her young son's paint set. When her family moved to Plymouth, Beryl and husband John (a seaman in the Merchant Navy) ran a busy theatrical boarding house.  Beryl Cook secretly sketched her subjects It was here that her talents were discovered, when guests started to talk about the unique paintings on display. A friend persuaded Beryl to try and sell some of the paintings - and, much to her surprise, they sold like hot cakes! Her first exhibition was in 1975, since when her trademark pictures of larger than life characters have become well known the world over. The Portal Gallery in London spotted her talent, and has held exhibitions of her work since the 1970s. Beryl's first pictures were created on driftwood, picked up from the beach. Speaking on the Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ's Culture Show, Beryl said: "I started painting on plywood, pieces of wardrobe, or anything handy that I found around the house, including lavatory seats." Despite the art world's snooty view of Beryl's paintings, the public love them. The works sell for up to Β£40,000. And in 2004, her boisterous characters starred in a two-part animated Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ TV series called Bosom Pals.
Her paintings are full of flamboyant, colourful characters, many of them observed by Beryl at the Dolphin pub on Plymouth's Barbican, and recreated in caricature form on canvas. "We've always visited this pub on the Barbican. We always go down there - only for a couple of hours on a Friday," said Beryl. "I always loved the sailors. When the sailors were in, all the prostitutes were in. So we used to start at one end and visit all the little pubs. "But it's all changed now - we very rarely see sailors. I don't think they're allowed to wear their uniforms out. And of course you can't really go out drinking in Union Street until half past ten - and now we are much too old for that." Self taught, Beryl prepared every picture fastidiously. They bagan as little sketches on cards often drawn surreptitiously under cover of her handbag.  A night out in the Dolphin! She spent weeks drawing her elaborate compositions. And she painted no-one unless it looked like they were having a good time. In an interview with the Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ in 2006, she revealed: "I'm only motivated to paint by people enjoying themselves. "If I saw something sad I wouldn't dream of painting that. It wouldn't mean anything to me to paint it. I might feel sorry for them, but I certainly wouldn't want to paint it. "Human nature is immensely interesting to me and I accept it all, just as it is. "I hope my pictures convey some of the pleasure, fury, amazement and delight I feel in activities going on around me." "I love it when I see people enjoying themselves. I'd quite like to be the one singing and dancing drunkenly in the middle of a crowd!" However, while she painted loud, flamboyant characters, Beryl herself was shy and didn't like being in the limelight. She didn't attend any of her gallery openings, and she didn't even turn up at Buckingham Palace to collect her OBE.  A character from the TV show, Bosom Pals Beryl was always attracted to scenes peculiar to British working life. What other painters dismissed, she saw as treats from the streets. "I love painting those big fags and I love people smoking all around me," she said. "I feel much better when I'm painting. It isn't why I paint. I paint because I like doing it, but at the same time I wouldn't be worrying about anything else - only my painting." Beryl's fans have started to fight back against the art snobs who have given her work the cold shoulder. In 2007 they launched a campaign against the Tate Modern in London for spending thousands of pounds on a can of conceptual human excrement, and not buying a single painting by Beryl Cook. The artist reamined unconcerned, however: "I don't see the point actually," she said. "What would they do with one of mine I ask you. And anyway, how can I compete with tins of you know what! Unless I paint them!" For Beryl, it was not the idea of seeing her paintings hanging at the major galleries which thrilled her - it was the enjoyment they bring to people. "They actually do still cheer people up and I'm awfully pleased about that." Beryl Cook paintings used courtesy of the Portal Gallery. last updated: 03/07/2008 at 12:31 Have Your SayUse this form to send us your tributes to Beryl Cook.
Hayley
nadine ridgewell
natalie
reyrey
Mark Payne
Amber may findlay
Terry Ivan - Ontario, Canada
beryl luna of philippines
mike and maxine evans new zealand
Jessica Appleby
Diane Sandison. northants. UK
Ray tish Tidmarsh
Binnie and family
Clifford Pinnington
Pat Devers
Bridget
Judith Ramsay
ella sedgwick
Eve
carol senft
Rob BEATTIE
Neil Slaughter
Chris Jory
Jane Squire
James Curtis
Stuart Raddy
Natalie
Chrissy Richardson
Nigel Redmond
Simon Tapper
DIANE ASH-SMITH
Norma kingdon
John Stapleton.plymouth
Grizelda
Dennis Davenport
Trish Ogilvie
Jim
Chris Smejkal
Rosemary
joy dye
Brenda Campbell
peter frater ( oxford )
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