Alan Parker
My name is Alan Parker. I started drawing one night in college, (Johns Hopkins) spontaneously, picked up a pen or pencil, and out came some designs. For the next few years I made a good number of similar designs, then moved to other creative pursuits. Years later I got a stand-alone scanner (they were new) and on advice of my brother, scanned the pieces, and worked on them with a program called Photodeluxe 1.0 Later came a printer, which came with a digital camera (two years later stolen from my beater car). By today’s standards it had almost no features, but I loved it, and got into taking pictures. Which of course then were run through the filters to create yet more variations of the images. After that, I learned how to use Photoshop to make the creations from start to finish. When I was a teenager my parents used to take us to the galleries and museums in DC, and in the bookstore of the Renwick I found a little book on composition. In it I learned about the use of circles and squares, diagonals, and page layout. Years later (1993) I took art composition at the University of Maryland. It was a wonderful class, and each and every day I use all the basic principles. I still have the syllabus and all my projects from that class. For me, the best art is that which enables or requires the viewer to participate, to use their imagination and engage the visual field. I don’t even like signing them- otherwise they can be turned any direction at all. My dad has two at his home “upside down” and I’ve never said a word. Shhh. I am a firm believer in visual stimulation, be it active or peaceful, sweet or disturbing. I do not know if my work is on the level of great art, but I strive for what Prince once said of Led Zepeplin, “They made you feel something different with every song”. Enjoy!
