Then & Now: Beverley Parker

Then & Now represents some of my paintings and drawings since 2020 as well as early work from my time as an Illustrator. Each room represents a particular year for me as I always started the year with a plan of action. You will see that my work ranges from very large to very small and as a student at St Martins School of Art (1982-85) I often felt conflicted by this. Yet I realise now there were no rules and there is nothing more empowering than working on a large scale piece and there is something equally satisfying about creating and being drawn into the intimacies of a very small drawing or painting.

I believe I have come full circle as an artist and can now understand how and why I paint. For me, it is escapism, to be lost in a place where it’s between myself and the painting or drawing. It is a solitary, safe place I loved to be as a child and need as as an adult. It has helped me in my life, particularly the last few years.

I like to bring Joy into my paintings and drawings, I like to create atmosphere and perhaps my latest work, based on Dante’s Inferno, shows a more illustrative approach than my previous work and connects directly to the classics scholar I was and my love of ancient history and literature, mythology and theatre.

This exhibition is dedicated to the memory of my husband John Horton, himself an artist, who died last year. For this exhibition I will be supporting Pilgrims Trust Hospices who helped us both.

Website: beverleyparkerart

Instagram: @beverleyparkerart