Two brothers are sharing their lifetime of art on the BYU-Idaho campus.
Leon and Nolan Parson are showcasing their artwork together in an exhibit called “Brothers in Art: The Parsons” in an opening reception Thursday night.
Leon and Nolan come from a family full of artists. Their parents had nine children, five of whom earned art degrees.
The brothers said their father, Oliver Parson, was the first full-time art teacher at Ricks College, which is now BYU-Idaho.
“Our home environment was pretty well centered around art. Where we went, we generally either took paintings or looked at galleries. Our house, of course, had some pretty good numbers of art,” Nolan said in an interview.
Much of the brothers’ art revolves around nature and animals. They said their interest in nature is due to their upbringing.
Nolan said the siblings would go fishing and hunting often, which would inspire their work.
“We were going fishing and hunting and all that type of stuff. The natural, normal landscape that we grew up with just kind of seeps into you and you just want to catch it,” Nolan said in the interview.
Although the two attended different art schools with different art philosophies, the brothers find ways to appreciate each others’ art styles.
“When I saw Leon’s stuff, he was able in my mind to put in the rules, but he still had passion and heart, and so that set me thinking I’ve got to figure out first how to put in the science and all the rules, because his way of communicating with his art was something that I wanted to be able to do,” Nolan said in a BYU-Idaho Radio interview about Leon’s artwork.
Leon said Nolan’s artwork is a little more spontaneous, with story-telling being one of Nolan’s strengths.
“What I love about Nolan’s art and appreciate is his honesty and his storytelling. I love the spontaneousness of his drawings, especially what he’s talking about, that they’re overworked,” Leon said.
To see the brothers’ art, visit the Spori Art Gallery on the BYU-Idaho campus. Their free exhibit will be available for public view at the gallery through October 31. The opening reception is tonight from 6 - 9 p.m.