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Q&A – Questions & Artists – Cheryl Stidwell Parker

Cheryl Stidwell Parker paints in her studio. Photo by Len Villano.

I first met Cheryl Stidwell Parker years ago when she joined the Door County Art League. At a board meeting, we were told we were going to have a new member full of energy and great ideas. The new member was Stidwell Parker, and she did not disappoint.

Not only is Stidwell Parker a great artist, she and her husband, Steve Lavell, have put on Door Prize for Portraiture for the past three years at their farm just west of Baileys Harbor. This year’s show runs from June 28 to July 27 at Chez Cheryl Art Space. See below for more information about the exhibit.

Randy Rasmussen (RR): Cheryl, where were you born and where did you grow up?

Cheryl Stidwell Parker (CSP): I was born in a very small Iowa town named Jefferson. It was a picturesque community with a town square and tree-lined streets. I was raised on a small farm just outside of town.

RR: As a child were you interested in art?

“Fish Out of Water,” water-based oil on canvas, by Stidwell Parker. “This is my favorite Door County image that I did while living at the Baileys Grove Campground. The Minnesota fishermen we met there would give us their extra fish, which became a study for this painting,” said Parker.

CSP: As I was growing up the art education in the Jefferson public school system was limited. The first art I remember were the drawings my mother did for me in church to keep me interested and quiet.

My mother, when I was very young, would give me a brush and a bucket of water and tell me to go and “paint the sidewalk.”

RR: It sounds as though your mother encouraged your creativity?

CSP: Yes, she really did inspire me. I remember her taking me to the Des Moines Art Center where we saw paintings by Rodin and other great artists. My mother also started me in private art lessons.

RR: What about high school?

CSP: As I said earlier, when I started school our small town had limited art instruction in the school system. In high school the individual that took private art lessons from the art teacher.

RR: Where did you go to college?

CSP: I received my BA in Cedar Falls, Iowa at the University of Northern Iowa. After graduation I started teaching K through 12th grade. I received my MA in Art and Design from Iowa State University in Ames, Iowa.

RR: Many readers have probably seen your work in the major local shows. Describe your work.

Stidwell Parker’s studio features an array of her artwork, finished and unfinished. Photo by Len Villano.

CSP: In graduate school I did drawings and paintings in all mediums. When I lived in Australia I did plein air painting with water-based oils.

RR: How did you develop your unique style?

CSP: Over the past 35 years I have been exposed to a wide variety of experiences and visual resources. I think my own life has been my best resource. My work is more about the pursuit of the finished product but my work is both high keyed and painterly.

RR: Who are some of the painters whose work you enjoy?

CSP: I do like the work of the Canadians called The Group of Seven. Emily Carr, who sometimes painted with the group, is another artist whose work I find interesting. She pursued her work from a modernist viewpoint; she was ahead of her time.

RR: What was the motivation for you and Steve to start Door Prize for Portraiture?

CSP: The show is similar to a show in Australia called the “Archibald Prize.” The national show, held annually, is an event that everyone is aware of. All the galleries in Australia benefit from the show and it raises awareness of art.

“The Hills are Alive – Mullumbimby Melodies,” completed in Australia in 2007, gouache on panel, by Cheryl Stidwell Parker.

RR: Finally, Cheryl what do you think is the future of art in this every-changing world?

CSP: I think a positive thing currently in the art world is the great diversity in the work. Art is growing and changing and I think this is a healthy thing. We as artists must continue to move in a positive direction.

RR: Thank you, Cheryl.

Twenty-one regional artists will participate in the fourth annual Door Prize for Portraiture exhibit at Chez Cheryl Art Space in July. The exhibit twill open to the public June 28 for viewing from 11 am – 4 pm on Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays through July.

This invitational exhibition includes a return visit from guest juror Graeme Reid, Director of Exhibitions of the Museum of Wisconsin Art, West Bend, Wis., who will select the Best in Show and two honorable mention awards.

Chez Cheryl Art Space is located at 8360 High Plateau Road in Baileys Harbor. For more information contact Stidwell Parker at 920.421.1690 or [email protected].

To view more of Stidwell Parker’s work, visit cherchezcherstidpar.blogspot.com.