Daniel Parker (artist)

Parker was born on November 18, 1959 in Portland, Oregon. He is the son of Donald Edward "Don" Parker (1938–2015) and Joan Arlue Sievers (1939-2019). The Parkers had moved to Portland in early 1959 from Kalispell, Montana, to find work but after less than a year in Oregon they moved back to Kalispell, their home town. Parker's great grandfather, originally from Norridgewock, Maine, had moved to the Flathead Valley in 1905 from Parker, Minnesota, to homestead on a farm on the Flathead River, near Demersville, about five miles south of Kalispell and two miles north of Flathead Lake.

The parents of Daniel Parker in 1956

Parker's father, who by 1963 was an aspiring country western singer and guitarist, met a woman nearly twice his age in a Kalispell night club and decided to eschew his marital and parental responsibilities by leaving town with her—abandoning his family—and headed for California where he thought he would become a famous musician but instead took construction work building a tunnel. After moving to Hendersonville, Tennessee, in 1966, Don did have some mild success when he toured with Tommy Cash and later recorded a single as the duet "Don & Carla" with 50 States Records, but long-term success would evade him due largely to an affinity for alcohol. The 45 record he recorded was not successful, selling only a few hundred copies. He did, however, succeed as a night club performer[1] and headlined some state fairs in the late 1960s, one such performance being in Missoula, Montana, at the Western Montana Fair, that was rained out. Daniel's mother, Joan, held out hope that Don would return to Kalispell to help raise his children; he never did. Also, he never provided any child support or alimony, so in October 1962 she was granted a divorce[2] on the ground of "extreme cruelty".[3] Daniel and his siblings grew up destitute, having been raised by a single mother and family on welfare who had been abandoned. Daniel's older brother, Mike, would say in 2015 after the death of their father, "unfortunately, he was only a sperm donor and nothing more". In the first 20 years of their lives, the Parker children would see their biological father twice, on each occasion for just a few hours.

Parker's mother would remarry three times, first in a short-lived 1967 marriage to Harold Schiele—a Ronan, Montana, carpenter—and followed that unsuccessful union by tying the knot in 1969 with Leo Arbuckle, a logger from Coram, Montana. Her final marriage came in 1975 to Herbert "Sonny" Strong, a used car salesman—son of the noted golf course architect Herbert B. Strong—who had moved to Kalispell in 1971 from Fort Pierce, Florida. Strong, who was a hunting enthusiast, taught Daniel the fundamentals of deer and elk hunting, an activity he would continue to enjoy.

In 1975, during school summer vacation, he took a job as an apprentice carpenter building garages for Bill Williams, a Columbia Falls building contractor. The carpentry work in the summers was steady until Parker graduated from Flathead High School in 1978. He then took up a position as a carpenter working on the power generating station near the coal strip mining operations in Colstrip, Montana. He stayed on the job at the power station until 1980 when he returned to Kalispell.

In the winter of 1981 Parker met his future wife, Jeanne Drollinger, at the Blue Moon nightclub in Columbia Falls. They were married on June 2, 1982 and three children were born to the couple, son Joshua and daughters Shannon and Lindsey. As a couple, the Parkers are engaged as a hobby in riding, and to a lesser extent raising, horses and mules. Daniel, when he finds time in the fall, enjoys elk hunting with bow and arrow and is an ardent supporter of the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation.[4] Parker and his wife, the daughter of a preacher, attend church on a regular basis.

Parker maintains a busy show schedule, attending the Safari Club International show in Nevada annually. His most important art show each year is the annual C. M. Russell Art Show, now called "The Russell", in Great Falls, Montana, held in March. In addition to scheduled shows, he often takes on commissioned projects as well.

Parker in 2008 standing near his Something's Coming grizzly bear sculpture in clay

Parker has created a number of monumental sculptures, the most notable being Yellowstone Legacy[4] and Black Mesa Mulies. The Yellowstone Legacy sculpture was purchased by The Hibernation Station motel in West Yellowstone, Montana.[10][12] Black Mesa Mulies—purchased by NatureWorks, Inc.,[13] a Tulsa organization which promotes wildlife conservation and education—is displayed in River Parks, adjacent the Arkansas River in Tulsa, Oklahoma, where a number of other bronze wildlife sculptures are also on display along the River Parks trail, including one by fellow Montana sculptor Sherry Sander.[14]

(Sources) [4]

• 1997 Ralph "Tuffy" Berg Award at the C. M. Russell Art Show (now known as "The Russell")[9] in Great Falls, Montana, for the best new artist of the year.[10]
• 1998 People's Choice Best Sculpture Award at the C. M. Russell Art Show for the table sculpture Brooks Falls.
• 1998 People's Choice Award at the Bennington Center for the Arts in Bennington, Vermont, for the table sculpture The Watcher.
• 1998 Best Sculpture Award at the Wild Wings Art Show in Lake City, Minnesota, for the sculpture Southfork Crossing.
• 1999 Sculpture Artist of the Year Award from the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation.
• 1999 People's Choice Best Sculpture Award at the C. M. Russell Art Show.
• 1999 Artist Award at the Bennington Center for the Arts, Bennington, Vermont, for the elephant table sculpture Sweet Talk.
• 2000 Viewer's Favorite Award at the Great Plains Show at the Museum of Nebraska Art.
• 2004 People's Choice Best Sculpture Award at the C. M. Russell Art Show for the bear table sculpture Grizzly Falls.
• 2008 Best of Show (New Artist) at the Calgary Stampede Western Art Sales Salon.