Theron Cook's Motto Is Don't Quit

Theron Cook was always in to art. When he was in elementary school he would draw Ninja Turtles, the Wu-Tang Clan symbol, Mortal Kombat, bubble letters, and cartoon characters. He would doodle as a hobby with his friends. At this point, it was nothing serious. His real passion early on was basketball, and his dream was to go as far as he could.

Some of Theron’s early work in 4th-5th grade. The one to the right is a self-portrait.

He played for the Boys & Girls Club and his middle school. There was one problem: Theron had an issue with his foot swelling for no apparent reason. Doctors were uncertain as to why this was happening. They mentioned the possibility of arthritis, but were unsure. “There were times I may have turned my ankle a little during basketball and continued to play,” says Theron. “But this was different from that.”

On his painful, swollen foot, Theron would still play, then walk a good distance home. Trying to be as normal as possible, his friends and teammates knew nothing about his health struggles. They did not know once Theron went home, his parents would give him a foot massage and soak his foot.

In high school, he walked slow and with a limp due to the pain. A soft cast was put on his bad foot. The doctors were going back and forth with a diagnosis. They were still unsure as to what was going on. “This was a very frustrating time,” Theron said. “I felt there was no need to keep going to the doctor when they could never pinpoint what was going on.”

He could no longer continue basketball with this ongoing health issue, which created a lot of disappointment. Around that time, a friend of Theron’s told him about an art class he was taking. He told him it was cool and had a lot of nice looking girls in class. Theron decided to give it a try. Pretty girls may have been what got him interested in the class, but Theron ended up throughly enjoying it.

Some pieces Theron created as he was growing more artistically.

The transition from basketball to art was not easy, however, he found art had become a therapeutic outlet; one that allowed him to express himself, not to mention he was good at it. He finally found what was missing since he no longer was able to play sports. Basketball provided the self-discipline he needed to push himself to the limit. Art allowed him to articulate his vision through drawing, then eventually painting.

Theron was loving art. “I would come home after school and continue to create,” Theron said. “I loved working on art at home.” His father took notice of this by the way his assignments were taken on with such enthusiasm and asked Theron to create a sign for his peanut business. This was one of Theron’s more serious pieces since it was going to be used for business purposes.

Expanding on his artistic knowledge, Theron decided to take a basic computer art class in school to see what it was all about. He found he did not like it. “Once I was introduced to fine arts and creating with my hands, I could not understand why I would need to create on a computer,” Theron said. “Not when I could control the outcome of a project through the use of colored pencils.” He then joined the art club at school and painted two murals, and won first place in a painting contest. He found painting was a way for him to de-stress.

A painting Theron created to de-stress before taking his driver’s license test, which he passed.

Having good grades allowed him to be able to follow a career path. So he had art classes for almost half of his school hours. The first day of art class in 11th grade, Theron’s teacher had everyone close their eyes and scribble on a piece of paper. When the class opened their eyes they had to make something out of the scribble. This was one of the first times Theron was exposed to his spiritual side being used in art. “I still use this technique to this day because it brings out my creativity,” says Theron. Since his father was a preacher, Theron already had a deep spiritual connection, now being introduced to this new method, his artwork became spiritually driven.

In his senior year of high school, his father purchased a paint set for him. “One of my very first paintings I took downstairs to my dad,” said Theron. “He was amazed and asked me if it was 3D.” His dad’s excitement surprised him. He did not realize what he ended up creating. This electrified Theron to go all out. He became a full blown painter, painting all throughout his bedroom; even the ceiling.

This is Theron’s bedroom walls. He did not paint them as of yet. These were his drawings.

The other painting Theron’s father questioned if it were 3D.

One of the paintings his father questioned about being 3D.

Now that graduating high school was fast approaching, one of his art teachers suggested he go to a particular art school in Philadelphia, PA. Theron being an introvert, his teacher felt this particular art school would cater more to someone like Theron who did not like to ask for help. He would get the attention he needed and not just be a number.

Theron and one of his high school art teachers.

When Theron decided to further his art education at the suggested four year college, he searched for his own funding before telling his parents. He received a scholarship and three grants and took care of all the paperwork. All his parents had to do was provide their signatures.

At first he decided to major in illustration. In his junior year, he switched from illustration to advertising and design. He took a class in art history and fell in love with it. Once again, Theron was exposed to the spiritual side of art as the teacher explained how humanity used God as a reflection through architecture, paintings, and sculptures.

The teacher fascinated him. She owned an art gallery in Philadelphia, PA which exposed him to art at the professional level. He started learning how to present himself as well as how to market and advertise. “Prior to learning the business side, art was a spiritual thing,” said Theron. “It still is, but I started to learn the other side of it.”

In his last year of college, Theron needed an internship in order to fulfill his graduation requirement. He applied to three magazine companies: Complex, Vibe, and XXL. After writing over 100 emails, calling almost every other day, and visiting unannounced, his persistence finally paid off! He landed an internship with Vibe magazine.

This became a busy time for Theron. He would wake at 5 a.m., take a bus to school which was an hour long commute, then two nights a week take another bus commuting two hours to New York, then once he got to New York he had a 45 minute train ride, then a city bus before he would arrive at Vibe magazine. He did this for six months while working at a bus terminal (which helped financially since he got to ride the bus for free) and a general merchandise store.

Interning at Vibe was very valuable. Theron obtained so much knowledge, he decided to create his own magazine. Prior to college he was more of a fine artist learning how to create art. In college, he was learning how to make art into a career from a business perspective. This is when things changed.

He started his journey to become an entrepreneur. With two childhood friends, they created TAP magazine, an acronym standing for the first letter of each of their first names. Eventually, the magazine’s name stood the same, but the meaning changed to, “The American People” standing for American people associated with music entertainment. They had structure, however, the magazine fell short causing one friend to give up and go his own way.

In 2006-2007, Theron and his other friend started Mute magazine (Music Under The Edge) discussing music, art, fashion and technology. Theron used Mute for his senior showcasing presentation. He created all the website design, mock up covers, recruited writers from school, and a photographer he met a Vibe.

At that time, Theron put painting on the back burner to do more computer graphics for the magazine. He had his magazine’s first photoshoot and issue release at his school. “The response was crazy,” Theron said. “We got intimidated by the major response and the need for funding as well as other obligations, and one partner fizzled out.”

Theron put a halt on the magazine. He went on to partner with another friend who asked him to design a clothing line. Theron took advantage of the opportunity to help fund Mute magazine so he could eventually start it back up. He learned screen printing and everything else that went along with clothing design. They had inventory set up, a photoshoot, and a fashion show. His friend ended up stopping the clothing line to go into the food business.

This led Theron to start “Mute the Ha8ter” campaign to resurrect his magazine. He looked for the faces of artists, had a photoshoot in New York, he found writers like David Nazario who answered the ad for a writing position with Mute-since then, David Nazario has published his own book, “Make Love Your Religion”.

David Nazario, myself and Theron some years back at a Red Bull Event in Philadelphia when Mute was back in full swing.

While restarting his magazine, he showcased three of his paintings at the gallery in Philadelphia, PA owned by his art history teacher. The Discovery Channel was there so it was a big deal. This gave him experience on how to display his artwork. He was also involved with a group of African-American artists in Reading, PA who would display their artwork during Black History Month at the local museum. Later this expanded beyond the month of February, at different galleries to educate the public about African-American art and the artists behind the pieces. “We would be downtown selling our artwork,” said Theron. “My art was also presented in a local coffee shop.”

Some of the covers of Mute magazine once it was back up and running.

Theron was open to new things to explore in order to stretch himself with experiences he could grow from. Around 2010-2011, he got a job with an advertising company learning how to design casino signs, while still doing the magazine and displaying his work here and there as he could. During this time, his health started giving him problems again, however, he did not let it knock him down.

He went to the doctor who decided to inject steroids in his feet to help with the pain. At this time, for about eight months he was working third shift for a company who manufactured car batteries in their production department, while still doing what he needed to do for his magazine, traveling to New York for photoshoots, and taking care of home maintenance. Basically, he was running himself to the ground.

In addition to his issue with his feet, Theron started to experience shortness of breath. He went to the doctor and was treated for asthma. A short time after his asthma diagnosis, an ambulance had to come get him from his home. When he arrived at the hospital they ran tests, and found he had blood clots in his lungs. “ In hindsight, I was disconnected spiritually due to working crazy and not taking care of myself,” he said. “I feel this was God’s way of telling me to reflect, surrender and witness the power of God.”

His first hospitalization was six months straight, so he had to rebuild things from scratch. The downtime allowed him to think regarding which way he was going to go with everything. In 2015, Theron had another hospitalization requiring stomach surgery.

In between hospitalizations, he got a job at Essence Magazine and lived in New York. While living in New York he got exposed to different styles as to how the art world really works. He started doing live paintings; learning different ways to promote and market his art, body painting, graphic arts, websites, apps, and photography.

He received a certificate in UX Design (User Experience). Now he designs apps, websites, marketing, branding, and fine arts. He also developed a system with branding that he utilizes on his own. “Pretty much I am a business within myself, helping other businesses,” Theron sad. “I have a good system going where I can build a company from scratch all the way to market.”

One of his projects, “Butterfli3ffect” is Theron’s way of marketing his personified story. “It is a direct reflection of my transformation through the experiences I encountered moving from Pennsylvania to New York,” says Theron. It interprets how he had to change his ways and adapt from being an introvert, pushing himself to speak more so he could interact socially without compromising his character.

He had to find confidence within himself and his purpose. His rule when living in New York was to go to a couple of events a week, at minimum. This then turned into three a day. His goal was to attend any event that interested him where he could learn and meet people. He would talk about what he was doing and who he was. “I blossomed metaphorically speaking, into a butterfly,” he said.

In Pennsylvania he was more of a caterpillar. When he moved to New York, he built upon his experience, determination, motivation and inspiration which all resulted in his transformation. This experience prompted him to paint a series of 33 butterflies, each having their own concept, elaborating within the painting on the particular concept.

A book of all 33 butterflies from “Butterfli3ffect”.

Theron is laying out a blueprint for the future. He has his artwork on watches, he is making collectables, painting designs on sneakers and clothing, sculpting out and manufacturing toys. He is starting a workshop for children at the museum in Reading, PA. Children who attend the workshop will paint their own toy to take home. He is currently working on a children’s puzzle and 3-D pop-up book that will coincide with the workshop.

He is materializing on all aspects of his magazine by adding in the technology component. He has patented a couple inventions that will go live: a mini pocket size computer and a holographic 3D clock you hang on the wall in the shape of a butterfly. It will have a screen to project so you can watch him do a piece of his artwork in real time.

And it does not stop there. He designed two apps. One is a classroom app to solve the issue with the relationships between parents, teachers and student’s through art. One aspect of the app is a clipboard which each student goes in for their individual lesson. This promotes the students to interact with one another. Each student will be responsible for their lesson. The project cannot be completed without each student’s participation to complete the final piece of art. This demonstrates what can be accomplished through teamwork. “In the app, teachers can do progress reports and permission slips,” says Theron. “There is a lot of communication along with visual arts and games too.”

Theron’s motto: Don’t quit! It is everything he stands for. He will not quit! That is something he will tell anybody to motivate or inspire them. “Whatever you do, whatever you desire to be, whatever is your utmost desire, don’t quit that,” says Theron. “Take that to your grave! You can always modify your path, but DO NOT quit!”