| ARTIST BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH: |
Painter Mary Parris was born February 11, 1914 in Edmonton, Alberta. Parris became an active member of the Edmonton Sketch Club in the late 1920s and early 1930s, and decided to further her art education at the Extension Department at the University of Alberta. She also attended a workshop at the prestigious Banff School of Fine Arts (today The Banff Centre), where she studied alongside Edmonton artist, Thelma Manarey. She also studied at Emma Lake in 1959 with John Ferren, and at the Edmonton Art Gallery in 1962 and 1972. Parris was an active contributor to the Edmonton art scene, as she was a member of the Edmonton Art Club and the Alberta Society of Artists. Parris is known for her abstract watercolour and acrylic paintings. Parris did not consider her work to be entirely abstract, as she found inspiration in the weeds and the landscape. Parris was also one of the founding members of the Focus Gallery, which was the first artist co-op gallery in Canada. Parris and Marion Nicoll exhibited together at the Focus Gallery in 1962. Parris’ work was exhibited frequently in the 1960s, at the Edmonton Art Gallery, the Calgary Allied Arts Centre, and in a travelling watercolor exhibition curated by the Art Gallery of Ontario.
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