Artwork copyright Lucinda Parker. Photo courtesy of the artist, 2023.

Northern Owls, 2023

Lucinda Parker
(American, born 1942)

Location: Health Lab and Training Center, Tumwater

ABOUT THE ARTWORK

Northern Owls by Lucinda Parker is one of four paintings for the Health Lab and Training Center in Tumwater, Western Washington. Parker was inspired first by the Chinook Jargon word “Tumwater” which means “waterfall.” Looking at the map of Puget Sound, the Olympic Peninsula, Tacoma, and the Cascade Mountains, especially Mount Rainier, plus the river and lake systems, Parker was impressed by how the landscape was and is a natural fortress or barrier.

Parker explains: "Owls move around if they have to, like people. The Great Grey Owl is a dark owl with white spots, and the Snowy Owl is a light owl with dark spots. She is female, Great Grey is male. In fact, they would not be flying towards each other: he would be east of the Cascades, and she would be out on the west coast beaches. Standing on the ground, these two species would be close to the same height, with almost identical wingspans. Opportunistic, omnivorous, predatory." Parker is interested in the simplification of forms, moving patterns, and color energy. She is not interested in painting every feather.

Parker developed the ideas for these four paintings after visiting the Health Lab and Training Center’s Tumwater site and learning about the history, culture, and landscape of the area. She made multiple sketches and discussed the options with the local Art Selection Committee. Collectively, they agreed on which sketches would be made into larger paintings.

This artwork was acquired for the State Art Collection in partnership with Department of Labor and Industries.

ABOUT THE ARTIST

Portland, Oregon-based painter Lucinda Parker creates landscapes and other compositions in an expressive, cubist style. She uses strong, visible brush strokes and bold colors. Her art expands on her personal interests in the natural world, literature, and music.

Born in Boston, Parker moved to Portland, Oregon in 1969. She earned a Bachelor of Arts degree jointly from Reed College and the Pacific Northwest College of Art in Portland, Oregon, and a Master of Fine Arts degree from the Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, New York. She returned to the west coast in the 1970s and became an associate professor at the Pacific Northwest College of Art in Portland, Oregon, for over thirty years. The Portland Art Museum honored her with a mid-career retrospective in 1995, and the Boise Art Museum presented a one-person exhibition of her work in 2002.