Everlasting Sunshine: Memories of Morgan Parton

Everlasting Sunshine: Memories of Morgan Parton

The Art

This collaborative ofrenda exhibit, displayed in the Detroit Institute of Arts' 13th Annual Ofrendas: Celebrating el Día de Muertos, was designed by me and two other artists, Margaret Bussineau and Ellen High. It is the first collaborative art project I've been part of. Ellen and Margaret had wanted to build an ofrenda, and they asked me to join them based on my friendship with Morgan and love for making art. We worked together to design the piece and to write the proposal for the DIA, and were thrilled to be accepted.

While we all took part in the overall design and elements of the ofrenda, we each played a particular part in the art making. I created the painting and added the punk rock pins and stickers based on Morgan's favorite bands. The pins were actually duplicates of the ones I had given Morgan as part of his Halloween present last year. I contributed the Halloween bucket, as well, which Morgan had given me last year. Margaret added all of the crocheted elements, such as the pan de muerto (bread of the dead), the pumpkins (he loved Halloween), donuts (he always brought donuts to the school), and even a latte for his favorite coffee cup. Ellen orchestrated the design of flowers, the ones on the floor made by students and the ones on the alter made by faculty. She also instructed faculty in the design of resin-based jello shots, and she created the easel for my painting. We added items sacred to Morgan's life, such as his favorite hats, relics from his Santa costume (he dressed up as Santa at our school), a rugby ball, and even his fantasy football scroll. Each of us brought something unique to the altar, and together we built not just an ofrenda, but a portrait of friendship and community in Morgan’s honor.

Our ofrenda has seven layers (including the floor and painting), which is a traditional structure, representing the soul's journey through the seven layers of the underworld before reaching the afterlife in Aztec mythology. 

Artists Margaret Bussineau, Ellen High, and Erin Melyssa Boggs

This year, the ofrendas were spread out across the different floors of the museum. Our ofrenda was on the first level, and in fact, in the Babylonian section near the entry to Kresge Court. I loved that I could stand before my very favorite piece of the museum, Mushhushshu-dragon, Symbol of the God Marduk, which was a part of the Wall of Ishtar (604-562 BCE) and see the ofrenda from there. I had made a painting inspired by this same work several years ago!

Mushhushshu-dragon, Symbol of the God Marduk

Left angle

Right angle

Artist Statement

Ofrendas display

Ofrendas flyer

Morgan Parton: A Friend for Life

Morgan was my first and most favorite friend at Clippert Multicultural Magnet Honors Academy. Though I only knew him for a short time, we were drawn together like magnets. He was a light even on the darkest day—kind, witty, and always ready with a sharp joke or warm smile. 

We often wandered into each other's classrooms just to talk, to check in, to share a moment of connection in the middle of the school day. One of the first things we bonded over was our shared love of punk rock, though, to be fair, Morgan embodied punk more than I ever could. He was punk because he was fearless. He was punk because he was a relentless advocate for his students. He was punk because he moved to Detroit for no other reason than to make a difference for the students who needed him the most, and because he loved this city's artistic, gritty, rebellious spirit.

Morgan loved the night. He loved music. He loved pushing me, his introverted friend, out of my comfort zone. We were delighted to be each other's Halloween goblins, and I filled his bucket not just with his favorite candy like candy corns, Haribo gummy bears, Mike and Ike's, and Laffy Taffys, but also with pins from his favorite punk rock bands. And he filled mine with just about everything he could find at Whole Foods, as well as a Misfits sticker, because that's who he was—someone who always went over the moon for his friends.

Halloween 2024

One night in December 2024, we shared our favorite haunts and bars, talking for hours. It was one of those rare, perfect nights, and we both knew we wanted to do this again. And again. I thought we had more time.

Morgan was kindness, generosity, and creativity. He was a light in the dark. He had so many exciting plans ahead. He had a deep passion for working with autistic students, and was adding a new teacher certification to specialize in that work. He was looking forward to buying a home. He was cool. And I miss him.

I only knew Morgan Parton for six short months, but I knew—I knew—he was friend for life.

Conclusion

It was an honor to know Morgan Parton, and an honor to celebrate him with an ofrenda at the DIA. I believe our ofrenda conveyed the vibrant and beautiful man Morgan was, and that this special exhibit reflected a bit of his light back to the world.

Bananas

 

Banana 1, Pastel and Colored Pencil over Watercolor, 8 x 5 on 140 lb paper

Banana 2, Pastel and Colored Pencil over Watercolor, 8 x 5 on 140 lb paper

Banana 3, Pastel and Colored Pencil over Watercolor, 8 x 5 on 140 lb paper

Banana 4, Pastel and Colored Pencil over Watercolor, 8 x 5 on 140 lb paper

This little set is the first artwork I've made since mid-October.  It was time to get going again. 

I wanted to play with a split complimentary color scheme, so I used a yellow subject with a red-violet background and a blue-violet background, and a blue subject with a red-orange background and yellow-orange background.  I was really nervous about making blue bananas!  I worried that they would be unrecognizable.  My banana browned significantly between when I started the set last night with Banana 1, and when I finished it this afternoon with Bananas 2, 3 and 4.  I started feeling like my artwork actually smelled like bananas by the time I was done.  I think the smell helped me make them more natural, along with the browning. 

I first did a watercolor wash for each of the paintings.  Then, I sketched my banana quickly in pastel and completed and under painting with Prismacolor Pencils, using complimentary colors (violet for the yellow bananas and orange for the blue ones).  I also sketched in some detail with dark brown, raw sienna and burnt umber colored pencils.  I went over the work with pastel, then added more detail once again using colored pencils.  The shadowing also began with colored pencil, but ended with pastel.

Bluebrush

 

"Bluebrush," 8 x 8 mixed media with acrylic and pastel on 140 lb watercolor paper

This is a project started with a trip to Ennis this past April.  I was especially drawn to the Indian Paintbrush, mixed in with all the Texas Bluebonnets.

I took this photo of an Indian Paintbrush:

I cropped the photo, emphasizing the flower's opening as a focal point:

 

I was most interested in the organic shapes within the flower, and I thought diagonal direction of the image would accentuate the focal point.  I sketched the flower with charcoal directly onto an 8 x 8 canvas and completed an ultramarine blue under painting using acrylic paints.   

My intention was to glaze the under painting and create a realistic, colorful image.  After many layers of glaze, I realized this project was not going to work.  Maybe I was too impatient.  The colors were not doing what I wanted them to do, and I regretted painting over my beautiful blue under painting.  I had already scanned the under painting, and so I printed my image onto 140 lb watercolor paper.  I then went over it with PanPastels, giving it a soft, velvety effect.  I ultimately made the choice to emphasize the blues and purples of the surrounding Bluebonnets instead of the peaches and pinks of the Indian Paintbrush.  My final product is almost monochromatic, with violet and magenta dabbed in for a bit of whimsy. While abstract colors are used, the flower itself maintains its soft texture within the final painting.

Secret Ocean

 

"Secret Ocean," 9.5x 6.5, Mixed Media with Citra Solve

This Citra Solve experiment reminds me of my friend, Celeste, with all her beauty and mystery; getting ready to send it to her.  I made this back in May, but just now getting around to matting and framing it.  And you know what?  It still smells like oranges.

After Apocalypse

 

"After Apocalypse," 9.5x 6.5, Mixed Media with Citra Solve

I am getting ready to send this one to my friend, Rachel.  It reminds me that there is still beauty, still light, still hope, even after the entire world falls apart. 

Hand of God

 

"Hand of God," 9.5x 6.5, Mixed Media with Citra Solve

I have been dying to experiment with Citra Solve and National Geographic magazines, and finally had the opportunity yesterday.  "Hand of God" is one of my favorites out of the mix.  In this piece, I see a large, illuminated hand reaching across an alien landscape.  Notice the play with scale and proportion, as well as the complimentary color scheme of violet and yellow.  I will post some other experiments soon.  My house still smells like oranges, although I completed most of this work in the backyard and in the garage.

Trumped Up

 

"Trumped Up," Acrylic Collage on 14x18 canvas.

The first time I noticed Donald Trump was maybe back in 2007, on an Acceptable TV sketch called "Operation Kitten Calendar."   This was during the time of The Apprentice, and the reality show star was clearly the victim of this sketch.  I thought Donald Trump was a joke, and when he ran for office, I rolled my eyes.  I told anyone who asked me that he didn't stand a chance and not to worry about it.

I believed this well into the election season.  This man emerged as not just a reality show laugh, but a hateful, misogynistic racist.  I thought he buried himself when the Howard Stern audio recording emerged, and even more so when he said "bad hombres," "nasty woman" and "you're the puppet" during a presidential debate.  I thought America wouldn't stand for a president who views women only as sex objects, a president who hates immigrants, a president who never apologizes and always blames others for his own actions.  Donald Trump seemed to be a kind of comic book villain.  He has been rightfully compared with the character, Biff, from Back to the Future.

 How could he "win" America?  But he did.  And so, the idea emerged for this painting.

I wanted to make a collage that reveals the absurdity of America today, the Orwellian world of "alternative facts," and the power-hungry leader behind it.  I wanted to make a portrait of Donald Trump using Fauvist elements (I love the works of André Derain, in particular, especially his portrait of Matisse), choosing colors mainly from my beloved 1984 special edition book cover.  I particularly wanted to juxtapose warm and cool color to show how I perceive Donald Trump.  I also wanted to focus on the design principles of unity and variety.  The 1984 motif definitely creates unity across the painting.  Variety is created by color, shape and the various collage elements (Trump's tweets, magazine articles, newspaper articles, photos, dictionary and thesaurus entries, pages from 1984, etc.).

 

I started by making a rough sketch of The Donald:

 

I blew up and transferred my sketch onto a 14x18 medium textured canvas.  I knew I would be covering it up entirely, but I knew I wanted Trump's jacket collar to coincide with the cover of 1984.  Then, I began collecting relevant newspaper, magazine, thesaurus and dictionary clippings, and pages from 1984.  I put together my collage using matte medium.  

 I did a total wrap around, making sure to place text on all four sides, as well as on the canvas itself.

Using mixed media is hard!  I had a lot of fights with ink running, even though I varnished it.  I even made an accidental print of my 1984 cover due to matte medium misadventure and mayhem.  I fought a lot with my paint and my colors.  I learned that I don't like gloss gel medium.  I had to redo my 1984 collar.  I ended up making Trump's tie entirely out of another vintage 1984 cover while I was at it.    I finished it with two coats of satin varnish.  

I came up with the idea for this portrait on January 30.  I was working on another painting at that time, but this one definitely took longer to complete than I would have liked.  

At the end of the day, the painting resembles pop art more than it does Fauvism.  But, I'm happy with how my Trumped Up painting turned out.