Young Artist Builds His Own World

At 15, Grayson Cook is shaping his future with the same authority he uses to shape his art.

"What I'm really hoping to do is get a degree in computer design," Grayson said as he sat at his Redondo Beach kitchen table for an interview, his mother Cindy Parker-Cook nearby. "I want to create all kinds of software, video games—stuff that can make people happy."

Your World, a game already in the planning stages, will allow gamers to invent their own version of Earth. "You can create it however you want it," he said, speaking more rapidly now. "You can name the continents, name the cities … create your own hybrid animals, all different stuff."

"OK, honey, slow down," his mother said. "It's all good."

He glanced at her, a fleeting gesture of respect, before the conversation veers to computers and how technologically savvy the ninth grader is.

"I know how to work every electronic thing in this house," Grayson said with customary bravado.

One soon learns the teenager with the wide-set, intelligent eyes does not lack for confidence.

But nothing is quite like it seems in the Cook household. The apartment building on Avenue A, as seen from the street, appears modest at best; the dark, narrow walkway leading to the front door is littered with leaves.

Then the door opens and Grayson, his manner oddly mature, smiles graciously and holds out his hand. "How do you do. I'm Grayson Cook. Won't you please come in?"

From there on, the three-story universe that the family calls home provides one surprise after another, not the least of which is a spectacular ocean view that stretches from one end of the living room to the far side of the kitchen.

But it's the art that grabs you—mainly the assemblages, collages and paintings by Parker-Cook, a striking redhead who clearly enjoys a close relationship with her two sons, including Vaughn, 14.

Where Vaughn expresses himself via screenplays about zombies, Chris Cook, Parker-Cook's husband of 31 years and a loan officer at CalFed Mortgage, leaves the creativity to the others.

But there's no question that Grayson has benefited from the gifts of his mother, resident artist at the Redondo restaurant, Ortega 120, and winner of Best of Show at last year's Power of Art at the Redondo Beach Performing Arts Center.

The winning portrait, an acrylic of a woman whose face is colorfully painted, is one of Parker-Cook's favorite subjects. “They are known as Catrina portraits and are meant to celebrate the life and death of a loved one," she said, especially on the Day of the Dead or Día de los Muertos.

Two more whimsical works reign at the head of the stairs leading to the living room. Mr. and Mrs. Smith, named after the movie, are assemblages atop forms that once served to hold Costco swimsuits. Mrs. Smith, adorned with buttons, jewelry and a belt of bullets, cozies up to Mr. Smith, his bared, bronzed chest formerly a part of Vaughn’s 300 Halloween costume.

The portraits, collages, altars, decorated furniture, puppets, dolls, Trompe l'oeil and religious relics that form Parker-Cook's business, Fierce Serenity, serve to fuel Grayson’s imagination.

His God-like intention to reinvent the universe began in the fifth grade. "I came up with an idea for my own country, like a little island," he said, producing the framed work he calls Graysonia.

It includes Graysonia College and a number of "made-up, fake" names, like the Karataro Mountains and areas like Adultland and Teenage Country—"places where people can be with their own kind," he said.

A later work, Graysonar System, embraces a similar theme. "I just thought hey, why not create a whole new solar system?" said the artist, who included a black hole and Grayles Comet in the acrylic, which resides in the family computer.

Grayson sold the original to Irene Midler, one of his teachers at Village Glen West. "Ms. Midler is one of my best customers," he said, beaming with pride. "I've sold four, maybe five paintings to her."

He expressed equal regard for Village Glen director Nata Preis, Linda Engel and art teacher Amy Kotowski. "She inspires me."

Grayson has attended Village Glen West, a private school in Culver City for the gifted and mentally challenged, for a year and a half.

"He meets the criteria for the Redondo Beach Unified School District under their Autism spectrum of Asperger's [Syndrome]," said his mother, who spent eight years trying to gain her son admittance to Village Glen. During part of that time, he was home schooled due to constant bullying.

"My mom is just great about that," Grayson said about his mother's fight to see that his education was harassment free.

Within a month at Village Glen, "he went from failing grades and being tormented to the honor roll. It just changed our lives," Parker-Cook said.

"Now it's great," Grayson said, eyes sparkling. "Last year [after only] six months, I got the most participation points in the class. I won Student of the Month twice. I've also gotten perfect attendance … and an award for playing on the basketball team."

As for the honor roll, "We couldn’t keep rewarding him with money for A's, because he was breaking us," Parker-Cook said, laughing.

"And everybody likes me," Grayson added with his usual bravado. "I've never really had friends."

He reserved special praise for his English teacher, Julee Madkins. It was her assignment that led to Grayson's graphic novel depiction of a chapter from The Watsons Go to Birmingham 1963, he said.

The book is about a black family that moves to the South and encounters racism for the first time, Parker-Cook explained. 

"I really thought it came out well," Grayson said, unrolling the huge pastel and acrylic drawing that depicts the story in pictures. "I think it's one of the biggest milestones in my career."

Parker-Cook's name is also on the work. "Yes," Grayson conceded without the least hesitation. "My mom helped with the detail."

Another work, called Abstract Fruit, shows a different side of Grayson. Displayed at last year's Power of Art, the 16 x 18 acrylic is his take on the classic fruit in a bowl still life. Since that painting also sold, it resides in JPEG form on the Cook computer.

"I [wanted] to redo that [bowl of fruit] painting, but bring it into the modern age," he said, explaining how he strove to see that "the area with the fruit did not have one curved line."

Although Grayson recalls creating his own trading cards in the third grade, his mother said he has long been a fixture in her basement studio.

"I would be painting and doing assemblage, and I'd see this little hand come up and reach and grab something and rearrange what I was doing," she said. "So, even before he remembers, he was editing my work for content and making it better." Like his mother, Grayson formed his own company, Grayson Artworks.

Currently, Parker-Cook is heading up an effort to raise money for Village Glen West through a silent auction from 6-8 p.m. on May 18 at the school. Using items donated by students and their parents, she has created 36 gift baskets with themes like Meow Mix, Doggone, Willie Wonka and Baker's Dozen. 

For more information on the silent auction or Grayson's or Parker-Cook's art, contact Cindy Parker-Cook at 310-720-4204 or email fierceserenity@yahoo.com.