Nicole Parker
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Original Oil Paintings
Nicole Parker
Artist Statement
Atelier x 8, 2012
"I have always been enchanted by landscapes, both foreign and familiar
and the way they are timeless yet always changing. In my most recent body
of work I have worked to capture these qualities of fleeting and enduring,
a task that is especially important to me when I travel. Traveling is integral
to my life as I can escape, for a time, the normal routine of daily life and
be refreshed by a new, if only temporary, place. These places and experiences
rejuvenate my spirit and the memories of them serve as inspiration in my life
and work. When painting landscapes from past travels, I am able to revisit
favorite places and imagine I am there. As I paint, I can lose myself in the
folds and contours of the earth and imagine I can feel the sun and wind on
my face as if I have returned. Painting becomes another way for me to travel,
even when I am tied to the here and now."
Atelier x 3, 2011
"Looking back on my childhood,
I remember playing in the yard with my brothers and watching our neighbor’s
tractors work the fields next to our house. I was fortunate to grow up on
a small farm that was surrounded by working land. Our neighbor’s pasture
was a pastoral scene dotted with a herd of dairy cattle and where I often
walked with my brothers to watch them in the milking parlor. Living in the
midst of this rural life profoundly impacted me and, in the years since my
childhood, I have observed the farmland in northern Baltimore County succumbing
to suburban development. I’ve watched as one farm at a time is being
lost and forgotten as new, gigantic houses are built practically on top of
each other. Huge three-car garage homes built for single families who can
no longer afford them and the lifestyle they represent. We are losing something
real as farmland gives way to suburbia, a way of life that works hard to give
the land its value. I worry that this will soon be the fate for the remaining
farms in the area.
I feel a personal obligation to bring attention to this issue by visually
showing the current realities and, in a way, preserving the farms that are
being lost. In my work, I have juxtaposed working farmland and suburban sprawl,
creating a visual tension that mimics this new reality. My hope is that I
can spread my own awareness and concerns about this suburban take-over of
the rural landscape and help to preserve the land and local heritage of our
farming community for years to come."
All images copywrite 2012 by the artist. Use without permission is prohibited.