Wednesday, May 21, 2014

My Dad ~ Husband, Father, Artist

Not only was my dad, Jan Albert Iverson, a loving husband to his wife and a wonderful father to his children, he was also a very talented artist. He loved to draw and was good at it. He especially liked to draw cartoons.

Here's one of his drawings. It shows him listening to a tape sent by my mom (his fiance at the time). He was in Korea when he drew this cartoon.


Jan Iverson Cartoon While in the Army

My dad served in the army from August 1958 until July 1960. He was a Korean War veteran. He was sent to Korea in August of 1959 and spent eleven months overseas. By the time he was in Korea, the armistice had already been signed. So, thankfully, he wasn't involved in active fighting during his service there.


Jan Albert Iverson


While my dad was overseas, he and my mom would mail tapes to each other. My mom said that she even sang a song in one of these tapes. Incidentally, my mom told me that when she was younger, she wanted to be a singer when she grew up. Yes, she has a wonderful alto voice.

In the cute cartoon above, my dad included some Portuguese words in the thought bubble. That's because my mom is from Brazil and speaks Portuguese and English. My dad did not speak Portuguese, however, and unfortunately, didn't get the Portuguese phrase quite right. Oh well. It's the sweet thought that counts. His cartoon shows that he was thoroughly enjoying himself as he listened to a tape my mom sent to him.

I remember when my brothers and I were young that my dad would tell us stories about talking cars. He would also draw cartoons of these cars. I wish I had those cartoons today.



Jana with her brothers
Jana And Her Brothers

My dad also loved to paint. I have a few of his paintings displayed in our home. Here's a photo of one of them.



The date on this painting says 1972. My dad painted more pictures during his life. I will probably share more of his paintings here on my blog in the future.

Thanks for reading!

Jana

© 2014 Copyright by Jana Last, All Rights Reserved

12 comments:

  1. I hope you will share more of your Dad's paintings. The cartoon is great! I bet your mom got a kick out of it when she received it in the mail - especially with the mistake.

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    1. Hi Kathy,

      Thank you! Yes, I most likely will share more of his paintings here on my blog. Thank you so much for stopping by!

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  2. Your Dad was very talented. Has the talent been handed down to the next generation?

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    1. Hi Colleen,

      Thank you! Well, my dad's drawing and painting talents didn't get passed down to me, that's for sure. Stick figures are more my speed. I admire those who have this kind of artistic ability. Thanks for stopping by!

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  3. Your dad was very talented! After seeing that your father's name was Jan, I can see where your name came from!

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    1. Thank you Carol! And yes, I was named after my dad. Thanks for stopping by! =)

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  4. What a beautiful tribute to your father!

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  5. Your Dad really was a good artist. It is so fun that the cartoon that he drew has been kept and shared. So often people just toss some of those things and yet they mean so much when they are kept and preserved. Great tribute to your Father.

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