Island artist creates YOLO stones, more
Pine Island artist Parker Carwile said he can follow his artistic bent back to his childhood, even his heredity.
“My dad was a very good illustrator,” he said, explaining that his father would often encourage him to draw.
Carwile said painting came later, explaining that he was an illustrator first as he was a cartoonist for his small-town, Virginia high school newspaper.
“I had a bit of interest in expressing my art and sharing it with others,” he said.
Unable to settle on a way to benefit economically from his creativity, it was surgery on Carwile’s back that forced him to sit for a great deal more time than he would have liked. His inability to move, however, turned out to be a stepping stone to his next artistic move.
“I started painting rocks. I call them YOLO stones,” he said, sharing that he has left them all over Pine Island at various times.
Carwile said if someone finds one of his stones, a website is on the back of it. If the finder visits the site, takes a picture of the stone and explains where they found it, he will post it on the website yolofestflorida.com.
Although he knew he could draw at this point, he had not realized how much he would enjoy working with colors. Carwile explained that his experience working with colors is like doing a puzzle, in the way that he feels the need to match things up and make them blend. He said it has been something he has had a great deal of fun doing.
“That’s where I have a lot of satisfaction. Experimenting with colors — some work with other colors and are complementary,” Carwile said, explaining that he feels many of his early art pieces were muddy or perhaps overworked.
Once he began painting his yellow stones, he loved getting feedback from the public. When someone would let him know they found one, it brought a certain amount of joy, as though he now shared something special with the recipient.
Carwile has even seen his stones in offices and places he was not expecting. He has also been invited to put some of his artwork in the Sandy Paws & Co. gallery, which he said has been well received.
“I’ve been listening to a lot of feedback, and I’m trying to adapt my style a little bit to be more Matlacha, Pine Island, Florida specific,” Carwile said.
When he considers his artwork, he is most proud overall of the contract work he has done for people who have asked him to paint their beloved pets. Carwile said there have been times when people have sent him photos of their pet and he has a few on his website. His greatest reward is in the response he receives from people once he is finished.
“Something I get a lot of satisfaction from is giving somebody a piece of art that I did that’s specific and special to them and how it lights them up. That makes me happy,” Carwile said.
He said the dream for him is pretty simple as far as being an artist as there is no grand plan for where he wants to be.
“I just kind of go with the flow, and at some point if the arthritis in my hand gets too much to hold a brush, I’m gonna try something else,” Carwile said, adding that ultimately the feedback is what has meant the most to him, although he would not mind his art being in more galleries.
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