You Are Loved, Spiritual and Creative Adventures, A Memoir

by Alex Cook

Overview

In You Are Loved, artist Alex Cook intimately relates his creative and spiritual adventures in his quest to create beauty and know God. Anyone longing to bring their own precious vision into reality will find solace and inspiration in these very human stories of a life dedicated to following inspiration. This inspiring collection of stories paints the heartfelt, personal journey of an artist who experiences and observes his inner life with unflinching honesty and strives to live his outer life just as honestly. We share Alex's struggles and revelations as he explores the questions that start to drive him from a young age: What is God and what happens when I express His Love in in my own way? Does God really tell me to go walking late at night just to dance on a hill, travel to Africa to paint a mural or don a bear costume to ride through the streets of Boston? How can I be an artist who is true to Beauty and the Voice within and still pay the rent?

In a series of thoughtful and often humorous adventures, Alex reveals how he grew in his artistic and authentic expression over the years - one inspired step at a time - until he eventually found himself making his living as a traveling musician and muralist. Alex also recounts his four-year battle with depression and the path that finally led to freedom. He talks about the magic and adventure of hitchhiking and how it opened his world and later prepared him to reach men in jail as a chaplain. He writes about navigating romantic relationships and opportunity they provide for spiritual growth. Always he is his own man, defying standard assumptions and praying beyond his fears. This book is a fascinating look at the creative process and how to live a life of courage and love. It gives us an inkling of the ever-expanding journey Love takes us on if we let it, and the profound impact following that path can have on our lives and those around us.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780578931951
Publisher:	Alex Cook
Publication date:	08/02/2021
Pages:	344
Product dimensions:	6.69(w) x 9.61(h) x 0.72(d)

About the Author

Since 1997 Alex Cook has created over 2000 murals in 20 states and 4 countries (USA, Kenya, Nigeria, Guatemala). Alex's work focuses on community and spiritual themes expressed through nature imagery and storytelling. In 2004 Cook founded Art Builds Community, a mural painting program for teenagers in his hometown of Boston, MA. ABC hired teens during summers, teaching them the skills of mural painting and creating many murals in the neighborhoods of Boston and surrounding areas. Over many years Cook has taught art and creativity to children and adults in many different situations ranging from alternative high schools and court-ordered community reintegration programs, to after school programs and summer camps. His work in education and the powerful experiences of creating art in public have caused Cook's artwork to become deeply social. Many of his mural projects include community participation during which community members are invited to make their contribution to a larger artwork within a structure. For Cook, painting is only half of the art - the other half is creating environments in which community members feel the love of connection and creation. Past collaborations have been with community groups, schools, churches, prisons, youth organizations and many more. Cook is also an inspired musician. Since 2009 he has written and recorded 6 albums of original Bible-based music and performed over 200 concerts in the US and abroad. Cook has brought his music ministry to churches, community centers, prisons, homeless shelters and street festivals.Between 2007-2014 Cook served as a chaplain at the Nashua Street Jail in Boston, MA. There he led groups and individuals in Bible study, prayer, and gave pastoral care to detainees.One of Cook's current endeavors, the YOU ARE LOVED mural project, makes murals whose image is simply the words "YOU ARE LOVED". It began as a mural message to students in an elementary school in New Orleans, LA, and has grown into a project working with communities all over the US to influence public conversation about self-worth and value. To date, there are 80 YOU ARE LOVED murals in 13 states and 2 countries. They are in schools, homeless shelters, prisons, worship communities, and more.