Jim Parker - Folk Artist
Creating a permanent pictorial record of the history of the Upstate
New York's people, villages, hamlets, cities, towns, counties,
historical significant buildings and events, would be an adequate
mission statement for my work.
This body of work, hopefully, will celebrate the special beauty
of central New York State and its very diverse people. Where else
can see such a spectacular valley as the Mohawk, or mountains
as breathtaking as our Adirondack and Catskill ranges? Where else
can one see reflected in their faces, the coloring and structures
inherited from Native American, Polish German, Italian, Irish,
Welsh, Afro-American, Ukranian, Bosnian, Lebanese, Scot, English,
Dutch, Hispanic, Etc, ancestors?
My paintings should reflect this special beauty and charm. They
should also show how this charm diverse collection of the world's
people have created, from the wilderness, a unique environment
that we proudly call "home".
My interest in art has been lifelong. It has been self-taught.
Art has always been my way to focus my attention and to relax.
My formal education includes a BA in higher mathematics from Syracuse
University and the US Navy Officer Training Colleges at Long Beach,
California and Newport, Rhode Island.
My first attempt to do an art project, that was commissioned,
was in the Persian Gulf, as a gunnery officer on a US NAvy destroyer.
I had to create an ink sketch of my ship and have our ship's carpentry
shop mount copies of the finished image on a wooden plaque. This
became a production item, when our ship was ordered to stay in
the Persian Gulf, the Red Sea and Gulf of Oman during the Suez
Crisis of 1956. The plaques were presented, as gifts, to local
government leaders, when our Captain visited them, in such places
as Bahrain, Oman, Dakar, Saudia Arabia, Yemen, etc.
Later, a civilian career in business occupied some twenty years
operating my own art stores and gift shops, including two in Boston's
Quincy Market. This included 16 years of engraving ivory, using
the American art of scrimshaw.
In the late 1980's, I started doing historic watercolor recreations
of small four corner hamlets in Upstate New York. This lead to
recreating entire villages, townships, counties, historic, state
maps, book, covers, etc. Most recently, it has lead to illustrating
and writing historic and fantasy books, the first being "Little
People of the Adirondacks", a fantasy legend about little
"Mist Fairies and Leprechauns", who live around the
many waterfalls in our northern mountain range.
Hundreds of old maps, photos, sketches, and input from local historicans,
are all required to proerly recreate my paintings and prints.
I have recreated some 250 communities and finsihed series of paintings
on the Erie, Chenango, and Black River Canals., forts and battles
of the French and Indian War, American Revolution, War of 1812,
etc.
From October 1st until Christmas, The Parker County Store is open,
on our 1737 Clapsaddle Farm. You can enjoy our fresh apples, apple
cider, maple syrup, fruit jellies and see all of my artwork, including
the hex signs, historic murals, and animals painted on our three
Victorian barns.
Email: parkerjimparker@aol.com
Website: jimparkerartist.bigstep.com
Telephone: ac 315.894.4660 or 895.5589
Address: Historic Clapsaddle Farm; NYS Rt 51, 437 Otsego St; Illion,
NY 13357
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