It surprises me that there are not more artists who dare to move in as close to nature as Wilma Parker does. Perhaps they are afraid of being considered naturalist illustrators. I doubt if that reservation has entered Parker's mind. Her interests are aesthetic, not biological. Yet the physicality of the plants never escapes her. Their presence becomes wondrously and sometimes disturbingly palpable to anyone who encounters her paintings. When I stop looking, I realize I've been with an art that is seductive, provocative, personal, that brings me

closer to wanting to know more about the flowers. But maybe Wilma Parker has already told me the most interesting things about them, and I will settle for that.

Richard Mulhberger, Director

Museum of Fine Arts and

George Walter Vincent Smith Art Museum

Springfield, Massachusetts

Highly influenced by the still life tradition, Parker's work demonstrates the lessons of the camera's vision of reality. Her contemporary views invite the empathy and imagination of the modern viewer, and encourage an understanding of the organic world of plants.

Janice Lyle

Assistant Curator of Art

Palm Springs Desert Museum

Palm Springs, California