Natalya B. Parris

"Winter Evening" by Natalya B. Parris

Natalya Parris has won the Best in Show award for her painting "Winter Evening" at the annual Woman's Club of Chevy Chase multimedia exhibit. (Parris is an artist and art educator, who will be teaching a Spring Break camp, "Art Around the World" for children at the Arts Barn in Gaithersburg from April 14-18.) Below is an interview with her on her views about art and art-making.

1. Where and how would you display your work in an ideal situation?

Since I am working on a series of artworks "Memories of Hillwood," where the artworks are inspired by the orchid flowers I saw in the Hillwood Greenhouse and museum’s priceless collection of art, in an ideal situation, I would love to display my art at the Hillwood’s Dacha. The Hillwood Museum & Gardens in Washington, D.C. has the largest collection of Russian fine arts outside Russia. If I were to dream further, I would like to exhibit in my favorite museums - the Museum of Modern Art in New York City and Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts in Moscow, Russia. I learned that life is full of surprises, more unpredictable and fascinating than any Hollywood thrillers. I hope my art journey will give me an opportunity to exhibit my art in places beyond my wildest dreams.

2. If expository writing is good at elucidating and proving a point and descriptive geometry gives us the tools by which to map objects in space in relation to one another, what kind of an apparatus does art afford us? What does art do best?

What art does the best is healing the soul. I know it from my own experience. I know it from my young students who are discovering the world, and mature senior students who come to class with the words, "I do not know how to paint and draw" and later discover that while they are creating they forget about troubles, pain and sadness. They are one with art and not only love doing it, but they are also good at it. As my four-year-old student said, "Art is the best thing in the world. I cannot live without art."

3. What can you expect from your audience/fans/viewing public? What would you like them to know about your work?

I hope my audience/fans/viewing public continue asking not only me, but also themselves, the question, "How does she do it" [create this art?] and try to find this answer. I hope my art evokes curiosity and interest in art and life; I hope it encourages people to be creative in all aspects of life. I hope that the audience/fans/viewing public know that I am very sincere and honest in every work I create; I do not hide my thoughts, emotions and feelings. I share them with people in the language of art, and my tools are brushes with paints, pencils and pens. Through my art, I tell the audience all my life adventures with the passion given me by nature. It is all there, just take a deep breath, keep an open mind, and you will see a story of my life in my paintings.

4. Marcel Duchamp said - "Enough with retinal art!" What is your reaction as an artist to this statement?

It is a catchy phrase – an invitation to dialogue, discussion about "retinal art." As there are many people and points of view, there are as many opinions about "what is retinal art, and why some are bored with it?"

5.Do you think that there is still room for art movements in today's pluralistic climate?

Life does not stand still; neither does art. There are new art techniques, interesting styles, new materials that artists use to create innovative work. For me, art is the form of life – the way we think, the way we talk, the way we write, the way we dress, the way we cook, the way we paint and draw, it is all art.

6. What is one question you wished we had asked you about your art? Please feel free to answer it .

The question is, "Where can we see your art now and in the coming months?"

My artworks are on display at:

"Women in the Arts 2014" the MUSEUM OF THE AMERICAS March 14 – April 5, 2014 exhibit; MUSEUM OF THE AMERICAS, 2500 NW 79th Avenue, Suite #104 - Doral, FL 33122

Art of Stewardship (TAOS) "Artist as Messenger" March 12 - April 19, 2014 exhibit at the Howard County Conservancy;10520 Old Frederick Road/PO Box 175  Woodstock, MD 21163; PH: 410-465-8877

10th Women International Exhibition, March 5 – March 29, 2014 at the Latino Art Museum; 281 S. Thomas St. Suite 105, Pomona, CA

"Call for the Halls" March 14 - May 15, 2014 exhibit at Capitol Arts Network; 12276 Wilkins Avenue, Rockville, MD 20852

Art League of Germantown (ALOG) February 7 - April 4, 2014, exhibit at Kentlands Mansion, 320 Kent Square Road, Gaithersburg MD

Woman’s Club of Chevy Chase 39th Annual Community Art Show and Sale (March 28 - 30, 2014) Address: 7931 Connecticut Avenue, Chevy Chase, MD 20815-5922

Art League of Germantown (ALOG) "Shades of Spring," April 2 – 6, 2014 exhibit at BlackRock Center for the Arts, 12901 Town Commons Drive, Germantown, MD 20874 301.528.2260;  Opening reception on Wednesday, April 2 from 5:30 pm – 7:30 pm. Closing reception on Sunday, April 6 from 1 pm – 3 pm.