the art and life of eunice parsons

down and dirty

2012-01-14T13:30:00.000-08:00

one of the thirteen new works for the march show at 12x16gallery

2011-12-06T12:27:00.001-08:00

2011-11-26T17:12:00.000-08:00

My mother was a childhood friend of Eunice's in the 1920's in Chicago. Eunice visited my parents in the mid '50's and gave my mother the attached. They are all signed "Eunice Jensen." Perhaps Eunice remembers them.

Regards,

Jeff

N, IL

artists reception

2011-11-08T15:25:00.000-08:00

with guest artist claire dannenbaum at 12x16gallery

lunch and a beer

2011-11-01T15:23:00.000-07:00

another work surfaces...

2011-10-08T09:17:00.000-07:00

this one is an early 1960s painting

early woodcuts

2011-09-30T09:32:00.000-07:00

these early 1950s woodcuts showed up at luke's frame shop the other day

the owner purchased them in 1956

reception @ luke's

2011-09-18T15:40:00.000-07:00

getting some air

the southeast examiner article

2011-09-09T09:28:00.000-07:00

click to enlarge

new works @ luke's

2011-09-05T12:02:00.000-07:00

september 6 - 29, 2011

artists reception: saturday, september 17, 6 - 8 pm

2011-08-31T04:31:00.000-07:00

new work...

2011-08-29T21:12:00.002-07:00

18 new pieces going up at luke's this week

2011-08-24T16:07:00.001-07:00

"he was the best teacher i ever had"

2011-08-13T00:14:00.000-07:00

eunice attended the jack mclarty memorial today

birthday celebrations

2011-08-06T10:53:00.000-07:00

birthday spumoni at sal's kitchen

at the gallery

happy birthday eunice

2011-08-04T11:05:00.000-07:00

eunice is 95 today!

Jack McLarty 1919 - 2011

2011-08-03T19:26:00.000-07:00

portrait of jack by laverne krause

with fellow gallery members

2011-07-17T17:25:00.000-07:00

front: cary, maryann, richard, maureen, eunice, ray, sharon
back: luke, israel, lee ann, alan, liz

2011-07-07T12:12:00.000-07:00

with roger hull at hallie ford museum of art

2011-06-05T10:56:00.000-07:00

with robert difranco and jackie johnson, at robert's 12x16gallery show reception

steel bridge, winter

2011-06-01T06:37:00.000-07:00

1954 painting that was exhibited in the portland art museum annual of 1955

the lumber room

2011-05-21T10:01:00.000-07:00

eunice, with carol smith-larson and others, listens to the host Sarah Miller Meigs

12x16gallery reception

2011-05-06T11:11:00.000-07:00

discussing art with barbara black

tucking into some mussels at sal's kitchen

2011-04-30T11:11:00.000-07:00

12x16gallery members

2011-04-25T10:33:00.000-07:00

it was a great show

2011-04-11T09:20:00.000-07:00

see a selection from the march show in the office gallery through the end of the month

the sunday artist's reception was well attended

2011-03-21T11:22:00.000-07:00

roger, mardy and bonnie

bill, jon and george

new year, new work

2011-03-07T11:09:00.000-08:00

"Louie Louis" @ 12x16gallery
March 3 - 27

2011-02-20T13:18:00.000-08:00

new work is at the framers

march @ 12x16gallery

2011-02-01T11:04:00.000-08:00

march show card with mardy widman

at january first friday reception

2011-01-11T19:38:00.000-08:00

with ray, carol and liz

with larry

2010-12-07T19:44:00.000-08:00

eunice with her fans

2010-12-05T21:54:00.000-08:00

a great turnout for the reception at luke's - with sales to boot!

2010-12-04T10:55:00.000-08:00

one of 10,000 @ worksound

nice, 1979

2010-11-26T14:07:00.000-08:00

Eunice Parsons
Where the Pieces Come From
New Collages

December 4 - January 6

Opening Reception: Saturday, December 4, 6 - 8 pm

Luke's Frame Shop
2707 se belmont
portland 97214
503.841.6090

st. michael, 1974 collage

2010-11-10T15:47:00.001-08:00

we selected works for the contemporary northwest art award submission today

with luke at kboo for art focus interview

2010-11-02T23:02:00.000-07:00

uf dah...

2010-10-12T16:51:00.000-07:00

we saw a lot of art today

george and lee

eunice at jon and irene's

2010-09-16T16:10:00.000-07:00

via bonnie hull

with ray in jon's studio

2010-09-10T21:10:00.000-07:00

internet inquiry

2010-08-27T07:44:00.000-07:00

I've been trying, unsuccessfully, to find information- about a piece called "Seattle Arcade" by Eunice Jensen, done in 1952. By any chance can you point me in the right direction?

Thanks so much.

S.D.

eunice's birthday party

2010-08-15T12:32:00.001-07:00

maureen hosted a birthday party for eunice yesterday with all the gallery members

with glenn at bonnie's party

2010-08-14T20:14:00.000-07:00

another opening

2010-08-09T10:13:00.000-07:00

eunice at 12x16gallery with george, john and irene, 8/7/10

happy birthday!

2010-08-04T08:09:00.001-07:00

eunice is 94 today!

found at an estate sale

2010-07-28T10:18:00.000-07:00

1957 oil wash on paper of the oregon city bridge

gallery meeting

2010-05-23T09:06:00.000-07:00

eunice with israel and carol

gifted to hfma

2010-04-26T10:50:00.000-07:00

Eunice (Jensen) Parsons

“Not by a Dam Site”, 1959

oil on canvas

21.25” x 35.25”

Exhibited at the Annual Artists of Oregon, Portland Art Museum, 1959

“In honor of the contributions of Roger Hull to the advancement and appreciation of Oregon art and artists.”

show ends sunday

2010-03-24T15:00:00.000-07:00

it's the last week to see "detritus" at 12x16gallery

"the year of the tiger", 2009, collage

detritus

2010-03-03T15:40:00.000-08:00

the new show @ 12x16gallery opens tomorrow

laura russo

2010-02-13T14:13:00.000-08:00

march show card

2010-02-09T16:03:00.000-08:00

not a eunice jensen parsons

2010-01-24T12:01:00.000-08:00

got this email recently

I have an oil painting that I suspect was one of Eunice Parsons
early paintings. It is 18"X24". I got the painting from my Mother when
she passed away in 2002. I don't know when or where she acquired
it. She had several original oil paintings. I chose this one because it
is a beautiful painting. The signature looks very much like Eunice
Parsons signature that I have seen on other works of her's. Anything
you can tell me about this painting will be greatly appreciated.

Attached is a photograph of the painting, and the signature.
Thank you.

visiting with jack

2010-01-10T20:36:00.000-08:00

eunice had a nice chat with jack mclarty today at the book release party at tad and mary's

eunice loves dogs

2009-12-13T15:08:00.001-08:00

gallery meeting

2009-11-15T12:48:00.000-08:00

honorary member eunice with the current members of 12x16 gallery cooperative- 11 strong!

first friday @ 12x16 gallery

2009-11-07T16:32:00.001-08:00

eunice with sherry, liz and kathleen

the blitz is over

2009-10-22T11:35:00.000-07:00

collected the works from the hallie ford museum of art monday and the works were delivered to the gallery from madras over the weekend

four shows at four venues in three months!

it was fun while it lasted, now time to start thinking about the march show

new show in march

2009-10-13T18:11:00.000-07:00

eunice will be showing new collages in march 2010 @ 12x16 gallery

she will be showing alongside guest artist ann carstensen

essay by roger hull

2009-10-06T15:28:00.000-07:00

Eunice Parsons: Collages

“The principle of collage is the central principle of all art in the 20^th century in all media,” according to the writer Donald Barthelme. Invented by the Cubists prior to World War I, commandeered by the Dadaists after the war, and adapted by later artists in a wide range of mixed media experiments, collage is an art of destroying one thing to create another, splicing excerpts from many discourses, and jumbling the formerly ordered into a new, often chaotic unity. In these ways, collage does seem to reflect the splintery static of contemporary life. For the Portland artist Eunice Parsons, collage involves a particularly vital interplay of words, images, textures, shapes, and colors that mingle the new and the nostalgic, the present experience and the remembered time or place.

Eunice Parsons was born in Colorado in 1916, grew up in Chicago, and moved to Portland in 1938. Long interested in art, she enrolled in a painting class with Charles Voorhies at the Museum School in Portland in 1950. She eventually completed the equivalent of two years at the school in classes with Voorhies, William Givler, Louis Bunce, Jack McLarty, and others. A dynamic teacher, Parsons was an adjunct instructor at the Museum School from 1957 through 1979 except for 1960-1961, when she taught at Portland State University.

Parsons began her career as a painter and printmaker. In 1957, she rode the bus to New York to see firsthand the new movement of Abstract Expressionist painting. She adapted the fluid, spontaneous, experimental techniques of Abstract Expressionism to her own work including her collages, which she began to make in the 1960s.

Her first collages were studies for paintings and prints, but she soon realized that the studies were often complete visual statements in their own right. The chance viewing of a collage by the New York artist Anne Ryan in the collection of her friend Louis Bunce confirmed her belief that the medium was its own legitimate art form. “It was all over,” Parsons recalls, and collage became her favored and eventually exclusive medium. In a conversation in May 2009, she stated: “I love the torn edge–and the cut edge. I love edges. I love paper. It’s a passion.”

Parsons’ greatest activity in collage-making has occurred in two separate periods: the 1970s, and from the1990s to the present day. After her long-time friend and lover died in 1973, she went into relative seclusion and made a series of bold collages. These are large works with strong patterns of torn and cut papers in intense colors: red, white, blue, sometimes yellow, and black–the black often being the lettering from posters and other graphics. French and Italian words (torn from posters and advertising kiosks during trips to Europe beginning in 1965) give these collages an international flavor, sometimes evoking the mood of Fernand Leger’s work or Jean Dubuffet’s later pieces.

In contrast to her collages of the 1970s, Parsons’ later work is more delicate, more varied in colors and textures, and at times more concrete in imagery (with pictures of Milan’s Galleria, for instance, or an Edward Weston photograph). At the same time, her strong use of lettering and bold embrace of the international, especially European internationalism, assures unity and continuity to her collages spanning a period of 40 years.

I thank Eunice Parsons and her friend and agent Cary Doucette for their assistance in preparing this exhibition.

Roger Hull

Professor of Art History and Curator of the Exhibition

art adventure show...

2009-09-22T15:27:00.000-07:00

the show at art adventure gallery in madras is in it's final week

the last venue in the summer long series of shows featuring over 40 years of eunice's work

see it while you can

blue room, 2009 collage

queen for a day

2009-09-14T08:27:00.000-07:00

the reception was well attended and the show looks great

see it before it ends sunday, 9/20

the hallie ford reception

2009-09-09T11:18:00.000-07:00

is this sunday, the 13th, at 2:30 - eunice will be there!

see the show in it's final weeks (closes 9/20)

on the slow bell

2009-08-30T16:59:00.001-07:00

eunice is nursing some bruised ribs after a fall which involved lulu and the contractors who were in the house cleaning out the heating ducts- she's fine, taking it slow, and promises to be in top form for the hallie ford show reception in two weeks

lulu

d.k.'s hot sheet

2009-08-28T12:22:00.000-07:00

this was in today's oregonian a&e section

"To many, collage fails to impress. It's piecemeal ingredients suggest a crafty exercise, a weekend jaunt with paper, scissors and glue. But Eunice Parsons may change some of those minds with her show at Willamette University's Hallie Ford Museum of Art.

Parson's collages are anything but simple. They're complexly constructed works infused with many art historical references that you'd expect of someone whose career spans much of modern and contemporary art. Parsons was born in 1916. Yet those influences are never at the expense of the artist's subdued visual splendor. Her collages have grace.

Parsons has been in Portland since the 1930s and has had numerous solo exhibitions in Oregon. The small group of collages at Hallie Ford is the latest welcome reminder of her consistency and facility.

In a 2005 review of a Parsons show, Oregonian contributor Victoria Blake wrote, "Parsons understands that collage, like life, is an art of imperfection, of the torn edge and the spot of glue. The potential for biting humor is here, and sentiment, as well as a good deal of judiciously used smarts. Parsons has all of these, but she has grace, too, and the ability to recognize the chance encounter for what it is: potential in its purist form."

rediscovered

2009-08-23T12:10:00.000-07:00

eunice treated the gallery members to dinner last night at cassidy's where we found this collage hanging in the bar!

eunice gave it to bob in 1992 and he had brought it in, along with some work from other artists, to brighten up the bar

as with all of her work, she was happy to see it again

the madras show...

2009-08-14T15:59:00.000-07:00

met coralee and bill at eunice's to select works for the show in madras

we settled on a good mix of paintings (4), watercolours (5) and collage (about a dozen) spanning from 1953 to present

steel bridge redux, 2009, collage

the attic

2009-08-10T20:24:00.000-07:00

spent a couple hours going through the attic and basement choosing work for the september show in madras

happy birthday eunice

2009-08-04T10:29:00.001-07:00

eunice is 93 today!

print show reception

2009-08-02T09:24:00.000-07:00

despite the heat, the reception was well attended and there were sales to boot

eunice talking with buyers

new prints...

2009-07-30T19:25:00.000-07:00

eunice retreated to the basement to escape the heat of the past few days and ended up printing (hand burnishing) two old woodblocks

one of which will be on view at the print show which opens tomorrow

press...

2009-07-29T21:24:00.000-07:00

an article in the salem news about the show at hallie ford

the hallie ford show opens today

2009-07-25T08:20:00.000-07:00

Eunice Parsons: Collages
July 25-September 20, 2009
The Portland artist Eunice Parsons has been called an American master of the art of collage. Parsons’ interest in the interplay of words and phrases and her travels to Europe and the Far East are reflected in her collage work. Organized by Professor Roger Hull, the exhibition features a range of collages created over the past few decades and includes work from public and private collections throughout the region.

the art focus interview

2009-07-21T15:05:00.000-07:00

the interview went well, eva makes it seem so easy

you can listen to it here

manuel izquierdo has died...

2009-07-19T12:20:00.000-07:00

eunice said, "he was a wunderkind when he was young... he was a fantastic character... it's the end of an era"

in the studio screening...

2009-07-17T11:29:00.000-07:00

a rather small turnout but the films were well received

eunice with phyllis and jose

harry, george and aaron

the print show...

2009-07-16T09:55:00.000-07:00

"the artist formerly known for her prints"

Aug 1 - Sep 4

luke's frame shop

2707 se belmont

portland

reception: saturday august 1, 5pm

in the studio...

2009-07-15T09:15:00.000-07:00

the three pcc films "in the studio", featuring eunice, george johanson and harry widman are being screened tomorrow night

port wrote about it here

artists reception...

2009-07-14T11:50:00.000-07:00

the sunday reception was well attended and sales were "brisk"

eunice with bill and louise

thanks for the shout out...

2009-07-10T07:10:00.000-07:00

the show got a mention on port

the artists reception is sunday from 2-4

photos of the show...

2009-07-06T16:18:00.000-07:00

see photos of "bliss" here

on the radio...

2009-07-05T21:33:00.000-07:00

eva called today to schedule eunice for an interview on art focus on the 21st!

listen here

first friday reception

2009-07-04T19:55:00.000-07:00

eunice got the first look of the show last night- she was pleased

press release...

2009-07-02T21:38:00.001-07:00

Museum features collages from Portland artist

SALEM, Ore. — A small selection of collages by Eunice Parsons, a Portland artist and teacher who has been called an American master of collage, opens July 25 and continues through Sept. 20 at the Hallie Ford Museum of Art at Willamette University.

Organized by art history Professor Roger Hull, Eunice Parsons: Collages features a range of collages created during the past few decades and includes work drawn from public and private collections throughout the region. As a special feature, a 30-minute film on Parsons, produced byPortland Community College, will be shown Sept. 13 at 2 p.m. in the Roger Hull Lecture Hall at the museum. A reception to honor the artist will follow from 3 to 5 p.m. in the lobby and Study Gallery. Admission to the film and reception is free.

Parsons’ interest in bold compositions of torn and cut paper and the interplay of words and phrases, coupled with the influence of her travels to Europe and the Far East, are reflected in her striking and evocative collage work.

Born in Loma, Colo., in 1916, Parsons attended the Art Institute of Chicago from 1934–36 and the Portland Art Museum School from 1950–54. An art teacher at Portland State University and the Portland Art Museum School, she has been included in dozens of one-person and group exhibitions in the past 60 years and is included in the permanent collections of the Hallie Ford Museum of Art, the Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art at the University of Oregon, Kaiser Permanente and the Portland Art Museum, among others.

Eunice Parsons: Collages has been supported in part by grants from the City of Salem’s Transient Occupancy Tax funds and the Oregon Arts Commission.

"bliss" on the wall

2009-06-29T20:13:00.000-07:00

i hung the show today- 18 new works- opens thursday

we hang the show tuesday...

2009-06-26T19:45:00.000-07:00

this is "SFO"

preview...

2009-06-23T20:44:00.000-07:00

this is a new work going into the july show at 12x16 gallery

it is titled "no point"

in the studio...

2009-06-19T14:59:00.000-07:00

...produced by Portland Community College, documents three former Pacific Northwest College of Art (PNCA) faculty members, all established Northwest masters with accomplished bodies of work and distinguished teaching careers, at work in their studios. Former Portland Art Museum Curator and co-producer Prudence Roberts places these three artists within the cultural history of Portland. At age 90, Eunice Parsons is making the strongest work of her long career—collages created from scratch in a process as spontaneous as it is methodical. (26 mins.)

the director michael annus is presenting the films thursday, july 16 at 7pm at the nw film center, portland, oregon

the eunice blitz...

2009-06-17T16:40:00.000-07:00

in addition to being included in the pnca at 100 show at the portland art museum, eunice's work will be exhibited in four venues over the summer

Eunice Parsons: Bliss

July 2 – August 2, 2009

Reception: Sunday, July 12, 2:00 PM

12x16gallery

8235 SE 13^th Ave. No. 5

Portland, Oregon

(503) 432-3513

www.12x16gallery.com

Eunice Parsons: Collages

July 25 – September 20, 2009

Reception: Sunday, September 13, 2:30PM

Hallie Ford Museum of Art

Willamette University

Salem, Oregon

www.willamette.edu/museum_of_art

Eunice Parsons: the artist formerly known for her prints

August 1 – September 4, 2009

Reception: Saturday, August 1, 5:00 PM

Luke’s Frame Shop

2707 SE Belmont

Portland, Oregon

(503) 841-6090

www.lukeart.com

Eunice Parsons: Paper and Paint

September 1 - 28, 2009

Reception: Friday, September 4, 5:30PM

Art Adventure Gallery

185 SE 5^th Street

Madras, Oregon

(541) 475-7701

www.artadventuregallery.com

found...

2009-06-15T21:34:00.000-07:00

this is a 1953 painting in the collection of omark industries

eunice asked mark humpal for his help in locating it and after a couple emails and phone calls- here it is

mark took eunice to the the company's headquarters to see it and she was interviewed for their monthly newsletter

she was very happy to see it again and recalled that it is a painting of of her daughter's first boyfriend

the y painting

2009-06-12T22:06:00.000-07:00

this is an early painting from the period when eunice was teaching art classes to wealthy women at the y - it is in the collection of lu bond, a dear friend of eunice

living with eunice...

2009-06-10T19:54:00.000-07:00

this is one of eunice's paintings in our dining room

it was a gift from the artist, or payment for services rendered

either way, it's one of my favorites and will always occupy a prominent space in our home

eunice jensen, "eastern oregon" 1966, oil on canvas

"Bliss" @ 12x16gallery...

2009-06-09T10:33:00.000-07:00

three of the eighteen new collages being shown at 12x16gallery in july

PNCA at 100...

2009-06-08T11:37:00.000-07:00

"I'm just glad I made the cut..."

Bonnie Hull has a blog post and photos of the event here

and this is eunice's art

2009-06-07T15:23:00.000-07:00

this is eunice...

2009-06-07T15:08:00.000-07:00