Life & Work with Chase Parker

Today we’d like to introduce you to Chase Parker.

Hi Chase, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
I’ve always been creative, from painting cars to my career as a hairstylist for the last 16 years. I created a craft room at our house for my daughter and her friends to use, but I had no idea I would soon take that over as a studio. A friend came over and liked a piece of art that I made for my dining room so much that I told her I would create something for her. The finished piece was a Kurt Cobain charcoal drawing over his handwritten lyrics. That piece was posted to social media, and from there, I got my first commission, which was also my first oil painting. I also received an offer to place my work in Luxe Gallery in West Palm Beach. I wasn’t exactly an “artist” at the time, but that moment changed everything for me. I just started creating and pushing myself to see what I was capable of creating. Since then, every moment I have free is spent making art. I have been pretty blessed in the sense that everything I have created has sold immediately and sometimes before I’ve even finished it. It’s been amazing and I feel like I found my purpose in life, all by chance.

I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey has been a fairly smooth road?
I feel like I’ve had the problem that every artist wishes they had. I try to build a portfolio of art to show for a festival, gallery or showing but can’t seem to hang on to my art long enough. Although the covid virus has created a ton of issues in the art community, I’ve tried to take that time to keep creating as much art as I possibly can. I was really looking forward to displaying my creations at some of the local art festivals in 2021. Unfortunately most of the shows have decided to do a virtual event due to covid. There is a lot of cost and time that goes into preparing for an event like that, but fortunately I’ll be over-prepared for when they return.

Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I believe art should elicit some emotion from the viewer. I’m always trying to push myself to create something stunning, dramatic, informative, or just beautiful. I like to incorporate as much information as I can into an art piece as if it were controlled chaos. For instance, if I do a musician’s picture, I like to create the background out of a mix of their hand written lyrics and sheet music. If I’m creating a picture of a historical figure such as Albert Einstein, I’ll incorporate his biography. I feel like this keeps the viewer engaged, and if they learn one fact about the person, it was a successful piece of art.

What do you like and dislike about the city?
Tampa has been home to every generation I know of. I don’t think you could possibly find a better place to call home. I used to drive Bayshore Boulevard to work each morning, sometimes seeing dolphins or even sharks, and would think of how unfortunate it would be to live anywhere else. Although Tampa is changing by the day, it just seems to keep getting better.

Contact Info:

• Email: Chase@artcparker.com
• Website: ArtCParker.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/art_cparker/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/chase.cook.94/