Obituary of a friend

Most of you have probably heard that Brother Cloward passed away on Sept. 11th. I hadn't talked to him regularly in many years, but we were good friends while I attended Institute there. I hope no one minds that I would like to repost his obituary.
I chose the pictures I did because he always seemed to like simple beautiful things, and he was a great lover of art.
I know a lot of people found him odd, but I always felt like we understood each other. He was a good friend.

Robert Alston Cloward, 59, passed away Sept. 11, 2006 at his home in Cedar City, Utah. He suffered from Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (Lou Gehrig's Disease).

Robert was born July 2, 1947 in Springfield, Illinois to Glannin A. and Ruby Dolores Alston Cloward. In his childhood his father was an officer in the U.S. Air Force, so the family lived in many interesting places.

Robert graduated from Clearfield High School in Utah. He served a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Guatemala and El Salvador. While on a semester abroad in Salzburg, Austria he came to love Kathleen Anne Price, whom he married Dec. 16, 1971 in the Salt Lake Temple.

He earned his B.A. from Brigham Young University, A.M. from Indiana University, and Ph.D. in Spanish and Linguistics from the University of Illinois. After graduate school he decided that his heart was in teaching the gospel of Jesus Christ, so he chose employment with the LDS Church Educational System. He taught for 13 years in Knoxville, Tennessee and was instrumental in organizing Seminary and Institute of Religion in the islands of the Caribbean.

Robert and his family moved to Cedar City in 1990 to teach at the Institute of Religion. His joy was his students and his colleagues there. An ardent student himself, he was generous in service, and gladly shared his understanding with all who came to him. An important part of his legacy will endure in the lives of hundreds of people who received his caring counsel. In 1993-94 Robert and his family lived in Jerusalem where he was on the faculty of the BYU Jerusalem Center.

Robert was motivated by his deep faith in the power and promises of Jesus Christ. He served diligently in teaching and priesthood leadership callings in the Church.

He loved music and received profound pleasure seeing his children expand their musical gifts. One of his greatest delights was singing, especially with the ward choir and the Barbershop group, the Iron County Minors.

Robert is survived by his wife, Kathleen P. Cloward and four children: Benjamin Price Cloward (Sarah), Aaron Price Cloward (Dena), Emily Alice Cloward, and Rebecca Anne Cloward all of Cedar City. Five grandchildren: Matthew, Joshua, Isaac, Emma, and Daniel Cloward. Brother John (Jacqueline) Cloward, of Norwich, Connecticut. Sisters Marilyn (Walter) Rudolph of Orem, Utah, Connie E. Cloward of New York City, and Sylvia (Donald) Suhaka of Damascus, Maryland.

.

Butterfly Flower

Today we found a new arboretum to visit, in Bothel. It was odd, in that when you first came in the gate there was somebody's house there. If I had been alone, I know I would have turned around and left. But Joseph, being the brave one, went and knocked on the door to ask if we could visit the park. I was supposed to be waiting in the car, but Elora and I decided to hide behind a bush instead...the car was hot!
Joseph came back and told me an old lady had answered the door. She and her husband were the caretakers of the arboretum, and the gate was just to keep their dogs in. Visitors were more than welcome.

Strangely enough, it really did seem like we were in their back yard. There were paths that went back through trees and pretty bushes, with squirrels and birds aplenty. It wasn't anything like the arboretum in Seattle, which had been just blocks from my home. This one was much smaller and more private.
Anyway, there was really only one thing in bloom this late in the season. I had never seen anything like it before, and I couldn't find a tag to label it, as many of the other trees had. It was a large bush with beautiful blue flowers. The flowers on this bush grew in such a way that you would almost think they were leaves themselves. They were shaped somewhat like butterflies, I thought, and grew in little clumps with smaller flower parts in the middle, kind of like a spray of baby's breath. (Except that part was blue too.)
So has anyone seen a plant like this before? I like it.

Portfolio

I promised myself that my next post would be a nice wordy affair, drawing upon my vast writing portfolio... have you seen my three poems published in the New Era? (the most recently published was sold over six years ago, but I digress..)
But, unforseably, the scanner/printer that we bought months ago is now working with our previously defunct computer. (yay!) I couldn't let the opportunity to post a few pieces of art go to waste...especially since my readership hasn't seen much of my art work in six years or so either.
Hmm, I must admit the last couple of years haven't been that productive, but I'll show you some of my favorites. Keep in mind that the copy quality isn't nearly as good as it could be, as I had to reduce the file sizes considerably and most of these are copies of copies, as the originals are too big.
I hope you don't mind! (And I hope my portfolio isn't shamelessly pilfered by internet theives to be used on unknown websites.)

Harvey and the Boys
This was drawn around 2001, shortly after I moved to the Northwest. I loved my cousins' pictures of the kids growing up. I played with the idea of doing a book on adoption using their photos, but got bored after a few drawings. This was the first.
(seriously, the real thing is so much better.)

Crystal and the Boys
This one was actually just finished a year or so ago. I started it around the same time as the first, but just wasn't liking it. Originally, it was much larger, and there were more people off to one side. I finally realized it was the composition bothering me, so I cut off two thirds of the drawing and added the log. Now I like it better than the other one!

Harvey and Tim
This isn't one of my favorites, as I don't especially enjoy doing portraits (everyone wants one when they know you're an artist) .But some of you have met my uncle, so I was going to ask if you thought it looked like him. Well?
By the way, Tim is now a very annoying 16 year old.

Sadie
This is Joseph's neice Sadie. I did this one along with a drawing of her sister as a Christmas gift. I had taken the photos myself the previous summer when we visited them. I love the original of this one, especially the blue in her hair. The copy definitely doesn't do it justice...especially with that prominent line through the bottom! The color is off too.

Jordan
This is Sadie's sister. See previous picture for explanation. I like Sadie's picture better, but this one is okay.

Self Portrait
Hmm, I wonder who this is? I actually love this drawing; we have it hanging in our home. I'm sad that the copy really didn't capture the colors and the blending of the original. Its much too dark, among other things.
Before I got married, I shared a house in Seattle with four other girls. My room had a balcony and I took this picture with the sun coming in from the glass door behind me.

And thus concludes our artistic journey for today. Thanks for joining me!

......and this is why I never get anything done

yes, she even does laundry!

but thats not all!

but I love you mommy!

yes, this little demonstration happens everyday, sometimes three or more times, to varying degrees of destruction. Isn't she sweet? (She'd like you to think so!)