Paul Parsons

Paul Parsons experimented with a range of media early in his career, but by the 1980s he had begun to concentrate on watercolour-his widely acknowledged forte. Parsons takes as his subjects both the natural landscape and scenes of everyday life. He has often paired his paintings with his own poetry.

Born in St. John's in 1925, Parsons is the son of poet R. A. Parsons and younger brother of painter Helen Parsons Shepherd. He was educated at Bishop Feild College and the Newfoundland Academy of Art in St. John's, and in London at the Central School of Arts and Crafts. He returned to Newfoundland in the mid-1960s, working briefly for the provincial Planning Board (for whom he produced a popular illustrated map of Newfoundland). In the late '60s he opened the Art Shop Gallery and briefly operated the St. John's Art School.

From 1957 onward, Parson's work was regularly awarded prizes in the provincial Arts and Letters Competition. “Paul Parsons: A Retrospective” was mounted in 1983 at the Memorial University Art Gallery. The artist continues to live and paint in Newfoundland.