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The natural world inspires James Parker’s sculptures, but the self-taught artist has been influenced just as much by his experience of growing up on a farm

- Catherine Coyle

 

Homemade gifts are the best. Ask any parent; the pasta necklaces, egg-box houses and papier-mâché heads are the presents that are kept forever, once the wrapping paper and ribbon have been discarded. James Parker’s granny got the mother of all homemade gifts in 2007, when her grandson made a sculpture for her. What was intended as a thoughtful addition to her well-tended garden in the Galloway countryside set Parker off on a new career path. “That sculpture was placed in quite a prominent position, and lots of people asked about it,” he says. “It got a lot of attention.”

It was his father who had taught him how to work with slate. He and his two brothers and two sisters lived with their parents on a farm in Galloway. “The farm had a huge influence on our lives,” says Parker. “As a farmer, my dad would have to repair gaps in the drystone walling and I would help him. I just picked it up naturally.”

After his father’s death, Parker served in the Armed Forces for six years. On his return to Scotland and at a crossroads in his career, a moment of serendipity showed him that sculpture could become more than simply a hobby. “I was helping a friend repair a wall and I could feel what a cathartic, absorbing experience working with slate was for me.”