It has been waaaay too long since my last Inspire Me Monday post...
I first discovered Maxfield Parrish in the 9th grade, when my art teacher had 2 or three small 8x10 size prints hanging up in the back corner of the art room wall. I loved what I saw and committed his name to memory. In high school, when I spent hours on end searching art books for inspiration for my paintings it was Maxfield Parrish books I poured over the most. I love everything about his style. I even tried to mimic it a few times with no success (his methods required days between layers of paint and varnish...I'm much too impatient for that!) So when I started into photography I realized after a while that there was something in the way I did things that said in a subtle way "Parrish." And I liked it. I guess after you've idolized a person's work for so long, its only natural that some of that style would leak into your own. And I wouldn't have it any other way!
To give you a quick background, Parrish was born in the late 1800s. His father was an artist so he got interested at an early age. His illustrations were widely used in commercial advertisments, childrens books, and in magazines such as Life. He worked until he was 91, and passed away in 1966 at age 95.
And he was handsome. Don't you think? :)
I think you might be surprised how much of his work has sunk into our pop culture. Recognize anything from these pictures below? (C'mon Enya fans...I know you know this.) I remember being quite suprised to see a Parrish painting on Lifehouse's first CD cover, too (the wierd door knocker).
Quite basically, I love this stuff. One day I will own a real Parrish piece. Mark my words. (Take note, Keaton....some Christmas when we happen to have several hundred thousand dollars lying around, I want one of these under the tree.)
Some of my recent, Parrish-inspired work:
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