If you were to enter Kim Parker’s apartment, you would
probably say she’s got quite a green thumb. Flowers cover
her chairs, rugs, curtains, walls, bathroom, and more. But she’s
an unconventional sort of gardener; while she certainly knows
how to coax a bud into bloom and turn sweet sprouts into beautiful
bouquets, she does so with paints, brushes, and canvas rather
than seeds, soil, and shovels. Parker is an artist, textile
designer, and author whose highly acclaimed, fabulous floral
designs inspire the spaces and lives they touch across the globe.
Her first children’s book, Counting
in the Garden, was published in April 2005, and
she’s just launched a new children’s brand, Kim
Parker™ Kids, of which the first product line is the Counting
in the Garden™ collection. Ever excited to
share her passion with the world, she is thrilled to connect
with our Parent & Child readers here about children, art,
and flowers.
Parent & Child: Where did your love of flowers and
gardens begin? Did you ever have a garden as a child? Do you
have one now?
Kim Parker: By the time I was 2 or 3, I was already deeply immersed
in depicting anything from flowers and butterflies to clowns
— anything that provided me with an excuse to use rich
colors. I never had my own garden as a child, but my mother
always had a garden, and I am sure that it provided me with
inspiration. I think that when you live in a city, you have
to create your own peaceful and healing space, and for me, that
is our living room, which is really quite the garden!
P&C: What is your favorite kind of flower and why?
KP: I love different flowers for different reasons. I love some
for their scents and others for their brilliant colors. I am
drawn to daffodils because I love their yellow exuberance. They
are one of the first sincere welcomes of spring on the east
coast, and for this, I cherish them. I also love zinnias. Whenever
I see a field of them, I am almost taken breathless by the infinite
array of their jeweled tones. When it comes to aroma, though,
I adore gardenias.
P&C: How are your flowers similar to and different
from real flowers?
KP: This is a great question for me. One of the reasons I love
painting flowers as much as I do is because I have the freedom
to break the rules -- to paint them as I "feel" them,
not as everyone "sees" them. I never copy or use actual
flowers as references when I paint, I just make up my own varieties
as I go along. Mine hint at and gently suggest certain types
of flowers, but I am not really interested in making them recognizable.
P&C: How would you characterize the personalities
of your flowers? If they could speak, what would they say?
KP: I love your questions, because you are touching on something
no one has ever asked, which I feel is truly a part of what
my work is about. To my eyes, all of "my" flowers
are communicating between themselves. The way they tilt, the
way they face one another, the way they lean on one another,
turn away from, or gently touch each other; there's a lot of
emotion there, if you look closely. My hope is always to create
a joyful and supportive community, which I think we all wish
to be a part of and experience. I guess I mainly want to create
a place where healing and love comes through.
P&C: How did you develop your very beautiful and
distinct style of painting and design?
KP: I think that my former career, as a classical flutist, played
a large role in my approach to painting. A professor at the
Parsons School of Design once asked me, when viewing my portfolio
of work for the first time, "Where did you study art?"
I said, "I didn't. I was a music major." And he said,
"No wonder — your work is extremely lyrical and musical.
Thank God you never went to art school! They would have tried
to destroy that!" When I paint, this aspect of my work
is a very unconscious but integral part of my "voice."
Like a ballet, I find myself dancing to a kind of inner counterpoint,
which I no doubt possess, due to a rich internal musical repertoire.
I don't think my paintings/textiles look in any way academic
or schooled. They are very free and organic.
P&C: Where does your inspiration come from? How
do you choose the colors you use and images you create?
KP: As a child, I had an endless desire to create colorful floral
designs. I don't know where all of that inspiration and passion
came from, even though I grew up in a very artistic home. Both
of my parents and my brother were serious musicians, and they
were also gifted in many other ways as well. Perhaps just the
exposure to beauty, both in fine art as well as in great music,
provided me with the inspiration to paint. As for colors, a
color choice will depend on my mood, for sure. Some days I have
to use fiery reds or eye-opening oranges, almost the way one
might crave or need citrus. On other days, cooler hues. I almost
think I am answering to a kind of deficiency within, on some
vibrational level — I believe all colors have frequencies
and certain healing powers for us.
P&C: What is your work process like?
KP: My work process is very private. By that I mean I work in
my living room, sit at my dining room table, and paint to the
accompaniment of finches and cardinals singing outside our windows.
For a city setting, this is, of course, a blessing and a rarity
— something I don't take for granted for a minute. Our
living room is full of rich color, so it's a kind of sanctuary
with healing sounds and colors embracing me as I set out to
paint. Sometimes I listen to my favorite Brazilian composer,
Egberto Gismonti, or to Bach. But the music has to be either
really pure or an equal waltzing partner to the painting process.
Other times, just the backdrop of the birds, and nothing more,
is really perfect.
P&C: What kinds of products do you have the most
fun designing?
KP: The thing I love about being a textile designer is that
pretty much everything becomes a canvas for me. I adore seeing
my designs on any number of surfaces, from pillows to designer
rugs, dinnerware, tapestries, bedding, and cards, to plush animals!
When you see your work take form, say, on a huge silk wall tapestry,
or covering a large floor, it produces such a high, because
each design does a different kind of dance depending on the
surface it occupies, whether intimate, bold, as a leading role,
or as an accent.
P&C: What is your favorite reaction that someone
has had to your work?
KP: That's a hard one to answer because I value everyone's reactions
— from people who have suffered with cancer who write
me to say that my paintings have provided them with a sense
of hope, to mothers who share with me their child's joyful responses
to my book. A friend of mine in Brazil sent me an amazing gift,
which I will cherish my whole life — a video of his 4-year-old
daughter, who composed a tune of her own, translating the English
words on the pages of my counting book into her native tongue,
Portuguese. Her sweet and chirpy little voice, joyfully singing
the phrases on each page, could not have been more precious
or meaningful. And at the end of the video clip, her father
said, in Portuguese, "And what finally do you want to tell
Kim?" She paused and then piped, "Sank you, Kim."
I have an amazing bouquet of such beautiful connections, and
I cherish them all. These precious kinds of gifts fuel my heart
and are put right back into my process. It's cyclical.
P&C: How did you start designing children’s
products?
KP: I have been designing for children for a long time in truth.
I always knew that this arena was really natural for me because
a child's world is, or should be, a free and colorfully energetic
place — and I knew my work had these characteristics.
There was a lot of freedom for me there — unlike some
of the more serious clients I had in the past, like design houses
that stuck strictly to this or that look, and were not open
to my more playful side. I think developing a children's line
is as natural for me as breathing. Once my first children's
book was published, that dream really seemed to open up for
me, like the found key to the garden in my favorite children's
book, The Secret Garden. It was time to tend to my own garden
in a sense, and create my own line for children, and grow my
flowers like never before!
P&C: What kind of work do you have in mind for the
future? Do you think you may work with non-flower themes?
KP: I am already doing this. In my high-end designer collections
for the home, I have sprinkled in my love for painting geometric
designs. I have just as much fun with them as I do painting
flowers. In going forward, I have been busy designing dinnerware,
handbags, and more pillows. And as always, I make time for my
fine art on canvas, where lately I have been exploring pure
non-objective color abstractions. Further down the road, I would
love to design backdrops for the ballet, or costumes where I
could bring my love for the ballet to life. I have no shortage
of ideas and inspirations!
P&C: How would you recommend a parent encourage
a child’s sense of creativity? How would you recommend
the parent or child exercise his own sense of creativity?
KP: One thing I have noticed of many of my women friends who
have small children is that they don't seem to make space for
themselves to connect to their own, individual needs on a creative
level. They always say they don't have time because their children's
needs come first. I really think it is paramount that each one
of us finds that space for ourselves in our lives, no matter
how busy we get. When a child is asleep, or at school, I think
even if it's for an hour, the importance of giving to ourselves
is as important as giving to our kids. Whatever dreams have
been put on a back burner should be brought forward and connected
to on some level. In no way do I wish to sound preachy. I just
see a lot of people who give everything away and save nothing
for themselves. I think this is a big mistake. When you are
happy and fulfilled, your child senses this and will also feel
happy. So even if it means whipping out a box of pens and paints,
sitting with a guitar, or starting to put ideas down in a special
book — just beginning that process, putting that ball
in motion, should give a parent a kind of inner fulfillment
and balance as their own individual desires are being nurtured
too.
Samantha Brody is the assistant editor of Scholastic's Parent
& Child. For more information about Kim Parker and Kim Parker™
Kids, please visit www.kimparkerkids.com
To read the August 2005 Young Adults Book Reviews webzine interview
with Kim Parker, please click
here.
