Artist Steven J Parrish doesn’t like writing biographies. If he were forced to say something about his career in art he would say that he has been drawing for as long as he can remember. He decided to start oil painting in his twenties.
Being self taught in the days before the internet was a challenge. Though his paintings were accepted into a gallery and sales soon followed the paintings did not equal the vision he imagined.
He then studied with artists who painted in the style he was trying to achieve. Those artists included; Gregg Kruetz, Joan Potter, Kim English, Kenn Erroll Backhaus, and David Cheifitz. The first painting after his first workshop with Gregg Kreutz was accepted into a juried Oil Painters of America (OPA) show and received an award. OPA signature status soon followed and he was asked join the artists represented by The Niemeyer Gallery in Chicago Illinois.
Exhibits include numerous National, Regional, and Local juried shows including the Virtuosos of the OPA Exhibition at New York’s Salmagundi Club.
The artist has always been fascinated by the way light interacts with objects. He looks for interesting objects and arranges them to achieve the interplay of light and shadow. The goal of his work is to elevate simple objects into dramatic artistic statements.
The artist lives in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia with his wife artist Linda Volrath. The two met in Steven’s first workshop with Gregg Kreutz. He teaches Still life painting at The Stuart Street Atelier in The Plains Virginia.
