Roger Cooke. Friend

Roger Cooke. Artist, Musician, Friend

As told by Andy Jorgensen.

“Whatever his project, Roger was driven to show the real thing regardless of how small or large the subject, which included wall-sized murals. He loved painting nature scenes which allowed him to accurately depict nature’s beauty. He disdained colorizing or color saturating paintings, he strove to use his gift in understanding and replicating colors as accurately as possible. He had an uncanny understanding of color. He could discern any shade of any color which drove him to replicate those natural hues in all his art.

“Roger used his years as a professional illustrator to enhance the details in his paintings whether they were Native Americans, murals or scenics. He was a man of passion in all he undertook. Roger loved painting Native Americans in early history in their natural habitat in full dress. Each painting caught the best light, shadow and incredible details in clothing, headdress, horses, rocks, trees. He also spent many hours in research for authenticity to fill in the background elements which might explain his subjects. Roger loved learning all about whatever he was painting before his brush layered the canvas or wall (Roger painted over 60 murals in towns throughout the U.S.)

“I got to travel with Roger on some occasions and saw firsthand the intensity of his work ethic. Murals could take weeks to complete and during those times away from home, Roger would find a church because his faith in Christ was most important. Wherever he went, he found opportunities to talk about God’s love and forgiveness. Just as he was driven to reproduce God’s creations on walls and canvas, likewise he was driven to talk about his faith in Christ. Even so, Roger was not interested in painting what might be called religious paintings.

“Roger loved mural assignments because they allowed him to get out in the field. On one occasion we traveled to Silverton, Oregon to paint a mural celebrating Doug Brown, champion cowboy. I watched Roger interview Brown, gathering all the details before he asked him if he still had his clothes from those times. Surprisingly, he did and gladly put them on. Roger asked him to sit on a fence mimicking his actions as he rode a bucking horse. I was there to take photos. There we were, Brown wearing his old rodeo bronc riding outfit, throwing his arms and legs about, as though he was riding a wild bucking bronc while I snapped plenty of photos. It was great!

“Roger was also quite a musician. He played piano, accordion  and organ that I know of. And he played by ear. I guess you could say it was a gift and a good one at that. One time we were playing music with friends (I play accordion) and Roger picked up an accordion and just started playing really good. I thought, now this just isn’t fair for him to be this talented in so many things. He loved playing big pipe organs and would take trips to do just that.

 “I met Roger at church and then attended a Bible study at his house on Marmot Road for about six years. Roger wanted to share the love of Christ with anyone he met. For him, the fact that Jesus died for his sins gave him a great desire to share that fact with all who would listen. He loved studying the Bible in small groups because it brought heartfelt sharing. He wanted to live his faith, to walk it out daily. 

“To sum it up, I would say Roger was a very passionate man. He loved his family, was passionate about what he wanted to convey in his art and Christianity. We shared on a spiritual level many times. I certainly profited from our times together.”

By David Nelson