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Section
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SANDY. OREGON THURSDAY. APRIL 8 1982
The Mncty Post
People
Home & Garden
Features
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Artist believes practical approach is best
by SCOTT NEWTON
Roger Cooke has taken some art
classes that he didn't get a lot out
of.
That may explain his insistence
that the workshop he offers in May
provide instruction that can be aj>
plied immediately, even commer
cially
" I guess the reason I have a
more practical approach than a lot
of teachers is because I'm making
a living at it That makes a big d if
ference ”
He said that for every artist
making a living from his work,
there's probably another 3.(MM) to
4,(MM). or more, who would like to
“ I have known students who
have graduated with a four year
degree in art and they can't paint,
and they're not good enough to
make it in the commercial aspect.
Yet they 've been led to believe that
with all this good teaching they’re
getting they're going to have the
world by the tail, (that they'll) go
out there and have a fantastic liv
ing It's really sad ”
Four areas w ill be covered, one
each day of the workshop, which
w ill be May 25-28 They include
drawing, composition, color and
lighting
The goal for Cooke is to teach the
basics, which can then be applied
to oil painting, drawing, water col
or or etching
Other experienced artists are ex
pected to participate, and one can
often learn from the others in at
tendance at such a workshop, he
pointed out
“ I enjoy teaching,” he added " I
enjoy seeing people get turned on
to art. and develop an ability to
where they can enjoy it.”
Cooke described his own style as
"a combination of traditional pain-
Roger and Edna Cooke
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ting and impressionism.”
About living in L A., he said.
more or less agreed with him "
He's a realist in that he paints
“ After living up here, it was a bit of
Cooke has been selling through
the subject in detail, but an im
a nightmare ”
the Husberg Gallery for eight
pressiomst in that he doesn t put in
years now, and is pleased with how
He spent five years after gradua
every twig on a tree that's off in a
it's going
tion at an a rt studio in In
distance
dianapolis. doing advertising and
‘ That’s basically how your eye
Working as a painter, instead ot.
editorial illustrations
sees something When you look at
say, a commercial illustrator,
something you focus in on a certain
gives him some freedom from
He then moved to Portland, and
thing and everything else is sort of
deadlines, as well as other restric
did freelance work During that
blurred out," he said
tions
time he taught at the museum art
“ I use my oils in a combination
school, which is affiliated with the
of thin washes and opaque pain
And. it may allow him more time
Portland Art Museum
ting, so I get the flexibility and the
with his wife, Edna, and his three
spontaneity of a water color and
children, who are Lance, 10,
He was getting work from an
yet I still have the control of an oil
Stephanie, 3. and Brady, 2.
agent in New York, and it ap
paint "
peared
that
there
was
an
oppor
Although Cooke is not the only
“ Usually I get in the mood of a
tunity for making a good living.
one using this technique, he
painting
at the beginning, and I
Then he got in contact with the
developed it on his own, and it took
stay with it until it's over, and
owner
of
the
Husberg
Fine
Arts
several years.
th a t’s very im portant,” Cooke
Gallery in Sedona, Ariz
“ I t ’s worked out quite w ell,” he
said.
said.
“ The gallery owner told me that
His paintings sell for $1,<MM) to
I'd be crazy to keep on illustrating
One doesn't have to be excited
$10,(MM), depending on size and
when I can paint the way 1 do So, I
about a painting to do a good job on
quality. He also does drawings, a
combination of pencil and pastel,
which sell for $85 to $300
Although he does a few land
scapes, he prefers to have people
in his paintings, and often the sub
jects include Indians native to
Oregon
He's also been doing historical
paintings of Oregon
" I think i t ’s more interesting if
there's something going on,” he
said, something to draw people in
to the painting
He jokes about his “ misspent
youth,” ome of which he spent
working .or the Forest Service
At one time he wanted to study
forestry, but later changed his
mind. “ I t ’s a nice occupation," he
said, "but I saw a little too much
politicking going on."
He grew up in the Beaverton
area, and first moved to the M ar
mot area at 19. Five or six years
out of high school he enrolled at
Portland State U niersity, and
spent two years there
After that he attended the Art
Center College of Design in Los
Angeles, and more or less started
over, as the A rt Center wouldn’t
accept any of his credits from
This painting by Roger Cooke depicts the Sandy River as it looked in 1957. The
PSU.
near this site.
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it, he said, but it helps
" I try to have a balance in my
life between the mental, physical
and spiritual.
"Now painting is p rim a rily a
mental exercise, and if that's all I
did I'd be climbing the walls after
10 hours
“ So I have to get out and do
something physical, work in the
yard or go fishing or something
like that ( the Cookes live in a house
on the Sandy River ,n the Marmot
area).
“ I can’t paint as well if I don’t
get a certain amount of exercise
during the day.
"And then we also have the
spiritual side of our life, with our
church, which I feel is important in
maintaining stability and painting
w ell."
home in which the Cookes live is