Nick Cook’s morning routine consists of analyzing his mood that day and piecing together his outfits accordingly. On a good day for example, he’ll sport a colorful crop top and a pair of denim shorts. Other days, he’ll convey his low spirits by wearing pale colors and sweaters. As a AP Art Studio student, Cook is not shy when it comes to expressing himself.
When he was thirteen, his wardrobe changed drastically. According to Cook, he began wearing outlandish clothing because he didn’t want to look like everyone else anymore. When Cook was in seventh grade, Vineyard Vines started becoming a more popular brand; every day he would come to school and he would see khakis, white Vans and quarter-zips all around. Cook felt compelled to have a distinct look that was unlike anyone else’s at his school, as spending $135 on a sweatshirt was not something he wanted to do.
“If I can’t be them, I’ll do something else that I enjoy. In seventh grade, I started watching videos of people on YouTube going to thrift stores and just looking cool and I was like yeah, I'll just do that because I don't have money to buy Vineyard Vines,” Cook said.
According to Cook, people thought how he dressed was weird and would comment on it, but by eighth grade people started accepting it.
Cook likes to find items no one else is wearing and spends a lot of time looking for those one-of-a-kind pieces in secondhand stores. However, he struggles to find thrift shops nearby.
“I do thrift shopping in the city with my mom and friends and go online shopping to find clothing items that other people aren’t wearing. I also have a sewing machine and I embroider my own clothes,” said Cook. “Being in Marin, there's not much in terms of thrift stores. There's a Salvation Army and a Goodwill in San Rafael and they just closed down the two family thrift stores in Mill Valley.”
Recently, Cook has been trying to start a clothing company with his business partner junior Jason Pham, who attends San Rafael High School. The products that Cook makes are marketed through the Instagram account of @lilthiccy and he plans on establishing a website after he has an official set of products. Although he has the intention of making new clothes and designs, he is struggling due to the lack of money he currently has. Recently, he got a job at Three Twins Ice Cream in Larkspur to fund his fashion endeavors.
Although Cook has a love for fashion, he isn’t sure if he wants to pursue it later in life. He knows that even though it is something he is passionate about, it isn’t easy to be successful in the fashion business.
“I am considering becoming an art teacher later in life in order to keep myself young. I think that if I become a teacher, then I’ll always be around younger people and always know what’s going on and popular among young kids,” Cook said.
Cook is interested in fashion, but in terms of it being a career path, his mom and dad have told him that it’s a good hobby, not a steady job.
“If I had all the money in the world to choose my profession, then I would make a bunch of clothes for people and I would try to make it as affordable as possible. I would make it reach as many people as possible and make it have some kind of meaning behind it,” Cook said.
Fashion aside, Cook is also interested in all types of art. He used to make music by teaching himself, as well as playing, the trombone, trumpet and he occasionally the piano. Now he focuses his music talents purely on singing. He also likes photography, as well as making short movies and videos. According to Cook, he has experimented with every kind of art except for dance.
Along with taking AP Art, Cook is also a teaching assistant for two other art classes. Because of his schedule, he spends a lot of time in the art room with his teacher Lauren Bartone. Bartone teaches AP Art History, drawing and painting levels 1-6, art explorations and AP Studio Art drawing and painting.
“Ms. Bartone is probably my favorite teacher in the whole campus. She tried to force me into a lot of new things just so that I could learn. Because I do a lot more design-developed stuff, she wants me to try and do more realistic kind of art and she pushes me to be a better artist,” Cook said.
Bartone has been teaching art for about 13 years. According to Bartone, early in her career she had been hesitant about teaching art. However, the enjoyment she finds from helping students like Cook grow their talents brings Bartone enough inspiration to overshadow her initial fear that she wouldn’t be able to handle it when kids didn’t like art.
“I like to think of my job as helping kids get out of their own way in terms of being creative thinkers,” Bartone said. “I work with a lot of kids that are very creative on their own and are very hard working as artists on their own, and I feel that my job as their ‘coach’ is just about helping them get through the rough parts or the hard times or the struggles with a project, and helping them stay motivated to finish and try new things so they discover more about themselves.”
According to Bartone, Cook is exciting to work with because he knows what his voice is and is very clear on how he wants to communicate it. She is dedicated to helping Cook develop more of his technical side and guiding him to master skills that he normally wouldn’t acquire on his own.
“[Cook] has a real affinity for a graphic style in his work. He's very influenced by fashion and pop culture. Sometimes he will interpret my assignments into his own language but he’s never outright resistant. He's not ever going to copy something that someone else did for the sake of following directions,” Bartone said.
According to Cook, making art at home by himself is a lot harder than being in a classroom with all of his friends who challenge him to be better, such as junior art student Ulla Wilcox.
Cook’s unique style pushes his peers’ creative limits. According to Wilcox, he inspires her to look fashionable, work harder at her art and be the best person that she can be.
“People have told me of what an odd outfit Nick Cook is wearing, but I think [the outfits] are cool. I think they're always very put together and thought out and really interesting. I have seen him evolve with his clothes but especially with his art,” Wilcox said.
Cook has strong opinion on style and how people choose to express themselves. Because of this, he has a very simple life motto.
“In terms of dressing the way you want, it's all just a matter of being comfortable with yourself and saying f**k everybody else. This is how I feel, and this is how I wanna express myself. I don't really care how you feel about it, but if you enjoy it, that's cool,” Cook said.
Credits:
Photos taken by Sylvana Perczek