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Detailed and layered composition by Leroy W. Parker (American, 1941). Signed “Leroy Wheeler Parker” in the lower right corner. “#1” … more Detailed and layered composition by Leroy W. Parker (American, 1941). Signed “Leroy Wheeler Parker” in the lower right corner. “#1” and an up arrow are written on verso. There are several types of handmade paper applied to the canvas, likely made by Parker himself. Tag on verso with artist info, title, media, and date. No frame, but the edges of the canvas are painted. Leroy W. Parker (American, b. 1941) is an artist from Oaklahoma who now resides in Lafayette, California. Parker earned his BFA in painting from the California College of Arts and Crafts in 1966, and then went on to earn his MFA in 1968 from the same institution. He is a Professor of Art at San Jose State University. He has taught classes in fine arts, life drawing, ceramics, paper making (which he instituted in 1984), and sculpture since 1969. Parker has also served on the State Art Commission for sculptural grants.Selected Exhibitions:Drawings and Paintings – ACCI Gallery, Berkeley, CA – 1974“Artistry in Clay” – Forge Patio Art Gallery, Lafayette, CA – 1980“A Most Elegant Show” – Sunshine Art Gallery, Fair Oaks, CA – 1982“Flora” – Harcourts Contemporary, San Francisco, CA – 1983Idea Gallery, Sacramento, CA – 1985“Multi-Media Man” – Sacramento Center for Textile Arts, Sacramento, CA – 1994“The Art of the Family” – Works Gallery, San Jose, CA – 1999Artist’s Statement:I was born in Eagletown, Oklahoma to Southern Baptist parents, and my father was a preacher. We were two boys and six girls in the family. The most mundane things were magical and special to me. I liked to draw, color, make things, and plant things. I loved the woods and the earth, and watching storms with thunder and lightning.We moved from Oklahoma when I was 11. In the late 1950s, I attended Oakland Technical High School where I met artist Sam Richardson. He was the catalyst that propelled me to enroll in art school. Before meeting Sam, I had been making art, but had no idea that I could study art in college. Sam was a very cool, kind, supportive art teacher. He taught me that I did not have to create only realistic images. One day, he took some white poster paint, white glue, a flat ice cream stick, and some black India ink. He created a loose, messy, textured-looking surface on an 8 x 10 inch flat panel and outlined the image of a short, stylized, funny-looking elephant. It was as if the image emerged magically from messiness. From there, he convinced me that I could seriously study art and become an artist. I went on receive a scholarship to California College of Art Crafts, and earned a BFA and MFA.Many paradoxical, seemingly negative things happened to me as I progressed in creative experience and research. These experiences, disguised as oppositions, have always proven to be great blessings. So, I say there is always the presence of thunder and lightning and great shakings, which produce an energy for the release of creativity. My teaching, lifestyle, and creative method of being an artist and creating art are all integrated by being more and more interested in the Creator-God. Every culture and race rushes through my blood. I am related to everyone. My parents are a mixture of African, Anglo, and Native American. I research various cultures that inform my art. I am an avid reader on subjects that relate to art and subjects that do not (science and business). I am at ease with every high idea or religious concept in every culture the world over.Education through art is the best education. Art should be at the center of education. Albert Einstein said, “Without imagination there can be no knowledge.” Art educates, uplifts, and nurtures the imagination. Art is a very broad subject. The best way to solve any problem is to focus on the solution. Art as a creative process can be used to tackle scientific and business problems as well as interpersonal problems. Read The Art of Possibility by Rosamund Stone Zander and Benjamin Zander, The Artist’s Way at Work: Riding the Dragon by Julia Cameron, Art and Physics by Leonard Shlain, and The New Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain by Betty Edwards. The eye is the best tool of the mind for gathering knowledge. The artist works intuitively. This way of working gives direct knowledge and insight into real meaning. True contemporary art aims to break down old, fixed barriers and rituals of seeing. It aims to reveal ways to the inner paths of inspiration. Contemporary art tries to bridge the gap between the left and right brain. There is a vast world of richness and creativity hidden in the subconscious, and contemporary art tries to get at the vast reservoir of creativity and knowing. Read Joel Barker’s Paradigms: The Business of Discovering the Future. In my art I aim to be a paradigm breaker–creator of new ones.My artwork, and working process, is a creative research that leads on a path to inner self-discovery and a sharing of its results with whomever comes in contact with me and/or it.I may take an old work that I did years ago and see it as the preparation for some new process of the present moment. I look for unusual tensions and arbitrary occurrences so that I will get to see the work in and unpredictable way, an unconventional way, something new–something that will shock and stimulate my mind and spirit. I am like a child who experiences unknowing surprises and wonders. I explore different ways of looking to arrive at an innocence in seeing. I like seeing the familiar imagery and abstractions in my format. I enjoy making surfaces complex, hard to look at. I like to work in the corners and on the very edges of the format because that is unusual. Just when a pattern of predictability is set up by the rhythmic repeats in the format,I seek for the most extreme opposite. This creates a stimulating tension. less
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