Ed Parker

New England born Ed Parker combines a respect for history and great American traditions, with unique inventiveness that has placed him among the leaders of today's generation of Americana painters. His illustrations have an original way of capturing the complexity of modern culture with a sometimes compelling, often whimsical sense of tradition.

Over the past 30 years his paintings and illustrations have graced books, magazines, private and corporate collections from coast to coast. Working in the great American folk art tradition, Parker has carved out a name for himself using a sophisticated sense of design, proportion and color to create charming and often humorous vignettes of American life. Ed's illustrations have a romantic simplicity, a refined naiveté, capturing the best parts of every moment. The paintings borrow from American folklore and history creating inspired moments in time and imagination. They become visual stories that you can interpret and complete, each in their own way. Recently, The Atlanta Journal referred to Ed’s work as “Grant Wood with a Yankee sense of humor.”

Ed received a BFA in graphic design from the Massachusetts College of Art and a MFA in painting and Illustration from the Rochester Institute of Technology. He served as Art Director of Boston Magazine and several Boston advertising agencies before starting Ed Parker Studio. His teaching experience includes design and illustration positions at Massachusetts College of Art, the Art Institute of Boston, Montserrat College of Art and Salem State College. In addition he has guest lectured and conducted seminars on illustration at the collegiate and secondary level.

Ed Parker's work has been exhibited in Museums throughout the United States including: Cornell Museum of Art and American Culture, Delray Beach, Florida; Mobile Museum of Art, Mobile, Alabama; Art Museum of Southeast Texas, Beaumont, Texas; Art Museum of South Texas, Corpus Christi, Texas; Museum of the Southwest, Midland, Texas; The Haggin Museum, Stockton, California; Coos Art Museum, Coos Bay, Oregon; Minnesota Museum of Marine Art, Winona, Minnesota; The Norman Rockwell Museum, Stockbridge, MA; Museum of American Illustration, New York, NY; Mt. Vernon Museum, Mt. Vernon, Viriginia.

Ed is a Signature member of the American Society of Marine Artists. He has also been the recipient of numerous awards including recognition from the Advertising Clubs of Boston and New York, the Art Directors Club of New York and the Society of Illustrators, New York. He was elected to the Society of Illustrators in 1986. Music is an important part of Ed's artistic muse, and when not painting he is usually playing folk guitar and singing traditional songs, the lyrics of which often find their way into his paintings, completing a circle of folk inspired American traditions.

He was the featured artist in the March /April, 2021 issue of Maine Boats, Homes & Harbors, “Whimsical Art Inspired By True Stories.”

His painting “Boothbay Harbor Yacht Club 1910” was included in the First International Marine Art Exhibition in 2021, and his painting “The Land Yacht Zephyr” was included in the 2021 national juried exhibition “Connected Land & Sea” at the Copley Society Gallery, in Boston, MA.