When Brooklyn born Steevie Parks was growing up on Long Island, she dreamed of being either an artist or an actress. She studied classical oil painting as well as theater from the ages of 9 to 22. Then studied anatomy, sculpture, printmaking, painting and drawing at the Arts Student’s League of New York, Syracuse University, and Sarah Lawrence College. “After college, I reluctantly decided to become a Clinical Psychologist instead of an Artist because my family convinced me that it was the most practical thing that I could do,” she explains. She taught special education for a few years and eventually earned a PhD in Clinical Psychology at the University of Maine, and became a Clinical Child Psychologist. She has been in private practice in Memphis, Carrboro and Chapel Hill.
Steevie’s love of art was never far from her. She blended it into her therapy. “I have always believed that creative self-expression can be a very powerful form of healing,” she said.
Steevie began painting seriously in her 50s. “My mother was in her last days. I felt an overwhelming need for self-expression and decided that it was time to finally become an artist again.”
Steevie’s inspiration comes from within. “I see colors and shapes in my mind, especially while listening to music, meditating or doing yoga.” She expresses these visions on canvas in acrylics, watercolors, and watercolor pencils. “Painting happens very naturally for me and I love that. What I like most about abstract painting is that each person will see something different that speaks to them in the language of color, symbolic imagery and raw emotion.”
Steevie’s non-representational abstract art can be viewed on her website. Her work is also available as prints via Fine Art America. She will open her studio for the 2021 Chatham Studio Tour the first two weekends in December and by appointment throughout the year. Prices range from $50 to $1000 for Stevie’s artworks.
“I often experience painting as an emotionally transformative experience and my hope is that what is a transforming experience for me, will produce some sort of transforming experience for people who view my art,” she said.
More information on Steevie Jane Parks and her work can be found on her Chatham Artist’s Guild profile page.
