Affable Beryl Cook downplays her gift.

David Rodgers interviews Beryl Cook on Plymouth Hoe about two books of newly published prints. Her inspiration is all around her, in the pubs and clubs and in the ordinary lives of people that she likes to paint behind closed doors. Dustbin Men is typical of her style and her ability to observe, sketch and capture a single moment of everyday life, add colour, exaggerate corpulence, brighten red gloves and imbue humour in the higgledy piggledy scene of a back alley in Plymouth.

Cook's works gave pleasure to a new type of art-loving public and her popularity endures to this day. Her works are held in museums in Glasgow and Plymouth and commercial sales of merchandise continue to seal her appeal. Cook was born in Surrey in 1926 and moved with her family to Zimbabwe in 1956. Cook relocated with her husband to Looe and then Plymouth where together they ran a guesthouse. Beryl Cook became an unstoppable phenomenon. It was one of the guests that persuaded Cook to sell her paintings and a first exhibition opened. The publicity resulted in Cook exhibiting regularly at London's Portal Gallery. Filmed Artworks such as Beach At Looe are subject to Copyright 2016 John Cook. All rights reserved.