Sandy Parsons

Please visit SandyParsonsArt.wordpress.com to see current blogs and avalable artwork.

When it comes to artists, I am the real thing, if the following characteristics are any indication of that: passionate, obsessive, spontaneous, courageous, empathic, fanatical, radical, quirky, jaded, tormented, unique, and so on...

I believe that peace is possible. I believe that Earth has a soul. I believe that we are all connected on some level. I believe that we are in a culture of walking zombies, ready to wake up (including me). I believe that art is an amazing power of communication that may assist in that awakening. I believe that art is my purpose. I believe that sustainable living is possible. I believe that humans will either choose or be forced to make radical changes in the way we live to achieve sustainability, or else face catastrophe. I believe in eating raw plant food. I believe in compassion for animals. I believe in love.

Here is my method of making art, which is a lot like life: Jump in, Let chaos happen, and then Trust that it will all work out in the end. I see the world as a giant puzzle, layers of stories that all fit together perfectly, which mirrors my artistic techniques. I assemble puzzles on canvases, consisting of shapes, layers, colors, textures and meanings. Every piece fits into it's own perfect place, and eventually, every completed art piece then turns into another puzzle piece within my psyche, to shape the grander story of life.

I like to work in layers. I usually start out with an active background on my canvas to create the mood I'm looking for. I tend to paint in a broken way to let the different layers show through in the finished piece. I use a lot of red in my drawings and I often leave those lines in there also. I want the viewer to see that the painting was a journey for me, not just a finished product. I wouldn't want to paint any other way. It's how I do all of my paintings. I think what makes a painting unique more than style is subject matter. The paintings that stand out to me are the ones that stir up some kind of emotion. Landscapes don't do it for me. They are like fantasy art to me because most landscape artists edit out any signs of development or human impact. Lately I've been gravitating towards realism in the sense that I'm not trying to glorify the subject. I want to paint my surrounding people and environment like they are, good or bad. I like the mundane moments of everyday life. It's my way of recording history.

-2011 Featured on
-2011 Print of “ONE” shown at AC Institute’s “Occupy the Walls” show in New York, NY,
-2011 Print of “ONE” shown at NoHo Gallery’s “Occupy USA” show in LA, Ca.
-2011 Print of “ONE” shown at Mohdi Gallery’s “Occupy First Thursday” show in Portlans, Or.
-2011 Featured artist in New Gratti Magazine.
-2011 “Humans and Nature” Featured artist with Melinda Parsons at Pioneer Theatre, SLC, Ut.
-2011 Featured on cover of Q Salt Lake Magazine, SLC, Ut.
-2011 Showing at “Submerged in Art” a fundraiser to benet the Road Home Homeless Shelter, SLC, Ut.
-2011 “Gaia” featured on the cover of Catalyst Magazine, SLC, Ut.
-2010 “Sexy Apocalypse” art/lm Premiere, artwork featured in “Eco-Gnosis” a short lm, at my studio in SLC, Ut.
-2010 Featured in Art Nouvou Magazine “Obama Burns Money in New Sandy Parsons Work.”
-2009 Self representation online at Sandy Parsons Gallery,
-2008 Individual pieces showing at Winterfest Art Show at AIO Gallery in SLC, Ut.
-2007 Parsons Family art show at Palmers Gallery, Featured on KSL TV, SLC, Ut.
-2007 Featured artist in the Winter Pride Exhibition in Patrick Moore Gallery, SLC, Ut.
-2007 Featured as one of the “Top 10 artist to watch in 2007” in Southwest Art Magazine.
-2006 Featured in Salt Lake Tribune Art section, SLC, Ut.
-2006 Individual pieces showing at Roz Gallery in Hood River, Wa.
-2006 Boulder Art Festival in Boulder, Co.
-2006 Breckenridge Art Festival in Breckenridge, Co.
-2006 Berkley Art Festival in Berkley, Ca.
-2006 Aaire in the Gardens Festival in Beverly Hills, Ca.
-2006 Utah Arts Festival in SLC, Ut.
-2006 Park City Arts Festival in Park City, Ut.
-2006 Spring Salon Competition in the Springville Museum of Art, Springville, Ut.
-2006 "Art and Soup" fundraiser in SLC, Ut.
-2006 Winterfest show at Patric Moore Gallery in SLC, Ut.
-2005 Utah Arts Festival in SLC, Ut.
-2005 Park City Arts Festival in Park City, Ut.
-2005 Spring Salon Competition in the Springville Museum of Art, Springville, Ut.
-2005 Individual pieces showing at Sagebrush Gallery in Trolly Square in SLC, Ut.
-2005 Individual pieces showing at Palmers Gallery in SLC, Ut.
-2004 One Person showing at Gallery 11 in Art Space downtown SLC, Ut.
-2004 Utah Arts Festival in SLC, Ut.
-2004 Spring Salon Competition in the Springville Museum of Art, Springville, Ut.
-2004 "Women as National Creators" exhibit at Long Beach Arts in Long Beach, Ca.
-2004 Representation at Unpredictable in Sandy, Ut.
-2003 One Person showing at Unpredictable in Sandy, Ut.
-2003 One Person showing at the GLCCU in SLC, Ut.
-2003 Award of Merit from the Spring Salon in the Springville Museum of Art, Springville, Ut.
-2002 Front Page feature in the Deseret news Art section, May 19, SLC, Ut.
-2002 Spring Salon Competition in the Springville Museum of Art, Springville, Ut.

2011/12/09/one-an-art-piece-brings-inspiration-to-occupy/

Three years ago, Sandy Parsons started creating her epically large collage titled “ONE.” Inspired by ten years of obsession with the multitude of issues depicted in the piece, as well as authors such as Derrick Jensen of Endgame fame, the piece is a wonderfully bold assimilation of important issues. Since the pieces completion in 2009, Parsons says the piece has taken on a life of its own, becoming more and more relevant as world events, especially the Occupy Movement, begin to shape our planet. What does “ONE” mean? Parsons explains:

“Although the art piece is up for interpretation, my take on it is from an environmental standpoint. I don’t see Obama as the main subject in the piece; he is just representing the consumeristic and politically distracted America. To me, the real star of the piece is to the right, Mother Earth, or Gaia, who lays dying. She, and all of her beautiful creatures, are the ones truly being affected by our way of life in civilization. She’s the one who I created this for. Money is also a big issue in the piece. I don’t see it so much from the perspective of many Americans who might think, ‘Oh no, who is stealing our dollars?’ but I would like to raise the question, ‘What is the true cost of a dollar?’ I hope that this image will strengthen the voices of the environmentalists in the Occupy movement, and also influence others to see the larger picture. Regardless, I truly applaud all of the protesters for their fearlessness in the face of state violence, their courage to stand up against our common enemy Big Business, and their tenacity to be heard, with or without the help of mainstream media.”

Because of the unique relevance the piece has to current events, Parsons recently printed out 5 large vinyl banners and sent them to Occupy events around the US, the idea being that the piece would inspire, provide food for thought or even shelter at the encampments. With the recent simultaneous evictions in major cities around the country, it will be interesting to see where the banners find new homes. You can find out more about “ONE” and help track sightings of the banners in the wild on the art pieces very own Facebook page.