“I grew up in Memphis in an Italianate Victorian that my Great Grandfather built in the mid-19th century. As a girl, I attended Saturday morning classes at The Memphis Academy of Arts in another grand old decrepit Victorian. Taking the bus downtown to Beale Street I relished the records sold at The Home of the Blues.
The Old South was beautiful in its decay, but not a place I wanted to stay. I wanted to be an artist and travel the world.
In my early 20s I lived in Greenwich Village, where I modeled and worked in a publishing house. After JFK, MLK, and RFK were all shot, I had had enough of America. I got a one-way ticket on a Yugoslavian freighter to Casablanca.
I spent most of the ‘60s in Europe, with sojourns in Hawaii and Laurel Canyon. When I lived in Rome, I played bit parts in Italian/American film productions. When I lived in Paris, on the Ile Saint Louis, I made clothes with fabric and embroidery I brought back from trips to Afghanistan and sold them at the Marché aux Puces and in cities around Europe. I learned to drive on a highway in the Swiss Alps, in a grey Deux Cheveux gifted to me by Timothy Leary.
When I came back to The States in the ‘70s, I started airbrushing, making clothing sold in boutiques on La Cienega, in department stores, and for musicians like Harry Nilsson, Little Feet, Van Dyke Parks and even a production of Ice Capades. On a trip to France, to visit my mother, Van Dyke asked her for my hand in marriage.
Back in Hollywood, Van Dyke and I raised two children, Elizabeth and Richard. In the ‘80s, I took watercolor classes with Joan Kleihauer at The Barnsdall Art Center and instantly fell deeply in love with the medium.
When I’m painting, I feel as though time stops. In my paintings, I try to show what I see. Thank you for taking the time to visit my world.”
Sally Rightor Parks has originals and prints of her paintings available for purchase. For prices and any other questions email Sally below.
