About the Artist

Paul Michael Cook

Paul Michael Cook loved the smell of his grandmother’s house—linseed oil, oil paints, and homemade bread. She was a self-taught artist, and her home and Paul’s childhood home were both peppered with her landscape paintings. People in the family said he had that same ability, but it wasn’t something he embraced until later in life. It began when he wanted a huge painting for a particular spot in his new home. Never a lesson beyond watching his grandmother, he just tried it. He was immediately in love and obsessed!

After experimenting with a variety of paintings and styles and subjects, Paul found that he most loved painting maps. The maps mixed many of his interests—history, travel, geometry, stories, and the natural beauty of man wrapping his civil designs around varied terrains. Every map holds a story. He enjoys “visiting” the cities, vicariously experiencing their sites, histories, colors, and people.

Paul Michael Cook resides in McKinney, Texas and creates his works from his home studio. He commissions art, paints for friends, and displays his work in gallery shows.