Sheila Parsons

RIVER VALLEY and OZARK AREA — Sheila Parsons looked down thoughtfully at a painting she began hastily in Monet’s garden years ago and dabbed a bit of pink paint at the canvass.

“These are roses,” she said, “and I do believe this painting can be saved.”

The watercolorist and longtime Conway resident said that right now she is enjoying revisiting her old paintings and touching them up a bit.

“I get very excited while I’m painting on location,” she said. “I finish probably 90 percent of a painting on location, and I have to figure out how to resolve it later.”

In her home studio, Parsons is focused on doing her best work, the kind of work she is recognized for throughout the state.

In 1996, Parsons was the recipient of the Arkansas Arts Award, presented by the governor.

“That was thrilling,” she said. “And this award now was very thrilling.”

Parsons learned earlier this month that she is the second recipient of the Lifetime in the Arts Award from the Faulkner County Library.

Parsons conducts semi-regular watercolor classes at the library, gives private lessons in her home and conducts workshops around the country, though not as many as she once did.

“I’m not trying to kill myself,” she said. “I enjoy teaching a lot.”

Parsons does her best to make time for her friends, especially.

“As a friend she has been exceptional to me,” said Joanne Stevens of Conway.

Stevens moved to Conway after Hurricane Katrina destroyed her home on the Gulf Coast of Mississippi and signed up for Parsons’ watercolor class soon after that.

Parsons made sure Stevens was accepted and cared for in her new home.

“She is a real, trusted friend and a very giving person,” Stevens said of Parsons. “She was also a very impressive teacher.”

Parsons said her first art teacher was her mother, and Parsons said she always knew she wanted to be an artist. She remembers growing up in Batesville and noticing things others missed.

“The earliest I remember noticing things like that was when I was a first-grader,” she said. “I was lying in a field of red clover and looking up at sunlight coming through it and wondering how I could make something that looked like that with crayons.

“I think I’ve been tr ying to do that backlit look ever since. I’m still trying to capture what enthused me there.”

That goal took her first to the University of Arkansas, where she earned a bachelor’s degree in art, and next to the Peace Corps in Bolivia, where she taught art for two years.

After returning to the U.S., Parsons earned a master’s degree from Pratt Institute in New York City. After graduating, she taught at the Quaker School in Brooklyn and American High School in Mexico City.

“That’s where my son Lucien was born,” Parsons said, “and those were kind of my hippie years.”

Parsons said she and her colleagues were older and smarter than most hippies, and not into drugs.

“But I do love the clothes and the beads,” she said.

Parsons is still seen around Conway wearing bright colors, especially on cloudy days, she said.

Parsons returned to central Arkansas after several years in Mexico City because she wanted her son to grow up near family, but she didn’t intend to stay forever.

“I had never been anywhere for longer than five or six years except as a child,” she said. “I was shocked the other day when I realized I had been here for 35 years.”

Parsons said she has enjoyed living in Conway so long because it is a town that embraces artists.

“It was a really good place to raise my kid,” she said. “I love that the colleges are here, and I think Conway is beginning to get very interested in the environment.”

Parsons mostly paints scenes from nature. She enjoys gardening and finds the natural world inspiring.

“When something grabs me, I find a spot in the shade and sit down,” she said. “Then I figure out what it was that grabbed me. Was it the light?The tree? The glow on the water?”

A collection of Parsons’ work will be on display at the Faulkner County Library through Monday.

Stevens said she decided to take Parsons’ class because a picture of one of Parsons’ paintings on a flier caught her eye years ago. Stevens encourages everyone to see Parsons’ collection of paintings displayed at the library.

“She’s just quite a talented artist in terms of perception, color and technique,” Stevens said. “She’s extremely talented and smart about art, and has the formal training and experience to support quite a resume of work.”

Staff writer Caroline Zilk can be reached at (501) 244-4326 or czilk@arkansasonline.com.

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Sheila Parsons My family is: My husband, son, daughter-in law and grand babies My favorite books are: The Only Dance There Is by Ram Dass; The Road Less Traveled by M. Scott Peck; and You Are Not the Target by Laura Archera Huxley My favorite movies are: As Good as It Gets and The Nines My worst habit is: Procrastination. I don’t procrastinate working in my studio. I procrastinate the business side of things, like getting letters returned, making news releases and following up on contacts.

My role models are: Milford Zornes and my mother Someday I will: Be accepted to the American Water Colors Society