Loose Leaf Notes

-The above first appeared in The Floyd Press on March 17, 2016. 

Rick Cooley was remembered in a memorial service as a gentle soul and a gifted artist whose legacy will live on in Floyd County and far beyond. Cooley – a longtime Check resident, originally from Indiana – passed away from Lymphoma on February 28. At the Hotel Floyd on Saturday, family and friends gathered among easels and table displays of his art to celebrate his 69 years of life.

Artist Pat Woodruff said Cooley was the first artist she met when she moved to Floyd 12 years ago and that she had admired his artwork on a Floydfest poster before she met him. Woodruff said Cooley was instrumental in her joining the Floyd Figures Group, an informal group (of which Cooley was a member) that met weekly for more than two decades to practice drawing and painting figures of live models. She said she wanted to speak during the open sharing part of the service but that she was afraid she would choke up.

Some spoke fondly of Cooley as a volleyball athlete, founding member of Floyd Theatre Group, a caver, hiker, fossil finder, avid traveler and a good friend. Family members remembered him as a loving father, grandfather and great grandfather that shared his love of art with them.

The service was facilitated by Katherine Chantal, an interfaith minister, life passage ceremonialist and long time friend of Cooley’s. Chantal greeted attendees, spoke of Cooley’s life and read a blessing by Irish poet/priest John O’Donohue. Sally Walker, Kari and Michael Kovick performed a song by John Denver and one by Iris Dement before leading the group in a hymn.

Cooley’s niece read from a eulogy prepared by his daughter, Christina Cooley Sparks, and his former wife and friend (Christina’s mother), Cheryl Cooley-Newman. It told of Cooley packing up his wife, daughter, dogs and a cat in a red, white and blue painted school bus and coming to Floyd in 1977 to live a simple life among fellow artists that were beginning to settle in the county.

Locally, Cooley illustrated the posters and designed merchandising logos for Floydfest for the first five years of the festival. His Café del Sol sign was an unforgettable downtown trademark for years. Currently, his murals and signs hang over the doors at the Hotel Floyd, Harvest Moon, Bell Gallery and Winter Sun. Cooley’s artwork has also been featured on wine bottles and labels for Wine Down the Trail, Chateau Morrisette, Vintage Virginia, Amrhiens Cellars and Green Mountain Orchards.

Before coming to Floyd, Cooley worked as an art associate at Curtis Publishing, home of the Saturday Evening Post. He worked alongside Floyd County artist Ernest Bryant, who was the Art Director at the time. Cooley later became the Assistant Art Director at the Post, before taking the position of Art Director at Indiana University School of Medicine, illustrating teaching materials for the medical college. His illustrations continued to appear in the Saturday Evening Post and children’s magazines, such as Child Life, Jack and Jill, Young World, Children’s Playmate, and Holiday Magazine.

Once in Floyd, Cooley continued to expand his career with national and international clients, like IBM, Saudi Arabia, Boy Scouts of America, Scot Foresman, Little Golden Books, McGraw Hill, Reed International Books, and Highlights Magazine for Children.

Over the years, Cooley’s artwork has been shown in a number of local exhibits, including the 2009 Faces of Floyd (Floyd Figures Group) show at the Jacksonville Center for the Arts, where Cooley taught drawing and watercolor painting.

Remembering Cooley, Chantal said, “He had a magical mixture of being present in the moment with me, while at the same time, it was obvious that the workings of his curious mind were so active. He was interested in so much.”

Rick had a good life,” another friend summed up.

Photos:  1.  Among the easels of Cooley’s work, the group joins together in song, singing, “I’ve Got Peace Like a River and Tears Like the Raindrops.”  Cooley’s daughter Christina and her husband are the first two pictured in the front row on the left.  2. Katherine Chantal encouraged everyone to, “Connect with those that we love.  Say what you want them to hear. Be with them.”  Some of Cooley’s work for the hotel is pictured on the podium. 3. Sally Walker, Kari Kovick and Michael Kovick sing a Cooley favorite. 4. Pictured is one of several displays of Cooley’s life work.  Attendees were gifted with Floydfest posters that featured Cooley’s art.  5. Cooley’s friend Liz Stuckey (far right) shared memories of traveling out west with him, saying that he was fun to travel with and was up for stopping at anything that looked interesting. The Cooley designed sign for the Café del Sol is pictured to Stucki’s right.  6. Family and friends took in the art on display and enjoyed a spread of food after the service.   7. Cooley’s work for the Hotel Floyd is featured in the pictured signage and mural.