My parents have always been lovers of art, so growing up, I was surrounded by paintings and drawings
hanging on our walls. Most of these were my great grandfathers, Claude P. Parsons. Although he was
mostly known for his flowers, his still-lifes and portraits mesmerized me in all their subtle color
and simple brushstrokes. As far back in my life that memory allows, I remember perching my eyes ever so
close to his strokes so that the only thing in focus was color and texture. I would then back away
and be amazed at the simple image that could transpire from such complex rhythms of paint
application.
My fascination in what could develop from tangible substances fueled my desire to create. I grew up
not just painting, but creating...searching for potential transformations in life's simple objects.
Like paint, the objects in our world can be manipulated and combined to create something new and
exciting. My art creation is not focused in one direction, even though I have been told that it
should be. I like to think of the ideas in my head as an endless toy box full of limitless fun. I
suppose a lot of my art has been influenced to, most often, lean towards one subject matter in
particular.
My heritage lies on my family ranch in the middle of Montana, almost two hours from a simple stop
light. Our 25,000 acre ranch has been the foundation of my family since 1908. Even though I was
never the one to plow or combine, I did have a strong tie to the land through the more subtle
components of ranching. I loved to ride my horse and wonder around the fields, raise the baby
calves abandoned by a mother taken away by birthing problems, and explore our old homesteads and
the mystery inside their doors.
My art reflects my heritage. Heritage, being such a strong and expansive word, describes not only
my visual and emotional ties to the ranch, but also refers to my family and myself, past and
present. My goal in creating my art is not just to bring people to the ranch, as that is not always
the subject, but to also give them some sort of feeling of connection to their own past. I hope
to be able to depict something that people can find some sort of relation to. I have attempted to
achieve this by finding a balance between the modern and the antique, and through a balance of
color and image.
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