Memory boxes are art for people who know what they want the art to be about but not what they want it to look like. My favorite cocktail party conversational gambit is to ask someone what they’re looking forward to. It gets people out of the tedious minutiae of the here and the now (do I have zucchini in my teeth?) and reminds them of the possibilities of tomorrow (partly sunny with a fifty percent chance of zucchini bread). People get out of bed today to work toward a better

As a duly designated representative of the City, County and State of New York, I order you to cease any and all supernatural activity and return forthwith to your place of origin or to the nearest convenient parallel dimension. --Dr. Raymond Stantz, Ghostbusters “I want to talk about my relationship with my estranged sister.” When Regan (name changed) heard about Memory Boxes, she immediately knew what story she wanted to tell. What happens when the person you look up to star

I do commissions for people who have a story to tell and don’t know what they want the art to look like. You come to me when you want to make sense of something significant in your life and you’re not quite sure how. Your job is to tell me a story, and my job is to extract the core of your story and transform it into something visual. “Women in Vegas have no heads and no legs.” Reader, I didn’t have any more context than you when I heard that sentence, so I just had to sit th

Amid all the other busyness of last winter, some friends approached me about a commission. The gist of their request was “Behold the distressingly empty walls in this house. We love your work. Pitch us something.” and they gave me a budget. In this case, I know the family well, and I have a good idea of what gets them excited about life, so I was eager to take this on. Some artists will paint anything you want. My commissions are a little different. I’ll paint your story. So

The Compass. Or north star, or sign post, or whatever. Something that points the way. "You can do everything completely by yourself, but most likely you will achieve supreme, profound mediocrity. That’s easy. These days everybody is doing that.” --Stevie Van Zandt *** My recent reading has left me delightedly vexed, and I’ve been wandering around in a state of low-grade irritation, trying to decide what to do about it. When I head out on trips, I like to load up on library bo

I was in the middle of writing something else when I got the news that “Resting Place” has been selected for inclusion into Infected By Art Vol 14*. This is the first time my work has made it in and I’m over the moon about it. So let’s take a look at how this painting got made. I’m fascinated by people’s collections of things that “might come in handy later.” There’s a certain type of person who saves every spare cable they’ve ever received. Some people have a junk drawer of

"Season of Emergence", 2025. I've been thinking a lot about growth this month First of all, Happy New Year! Now, onto the good stuff. First of all, I promised I’d share the recipe for the Dragon’s Breath tea I served at my open studio event. It’s my new favorite cold remedy. These quantities are all extremely approximate and should be adjusted to taste. Dragon's Breath Tea (serves 1) 2 tablespoons juiced ginger* 2 tablespoons honey 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper 1 drop liquid sm

I've been thinking a lot about how humans matter, and how sick I am of AI slop. Humanity is glorious in all its gritty, wonderful detail. Every time I leave the house I look for little human moments. As a for-instance, I caught two of my neighbors, who have both been adopted by the same cat, negotiating the ins and outs of coparenting an outdoor pet. “Have you been giving her worm meds? Because I have and I want to make sure we’re not double-dosing her, but she does have worm

In the midst of all the IX prep in the last few months (hello, IX visitors!) I also had the honor of being asked to apply to Manna Gallery’s Wrapped Up show. On the one hand, I was neck-deep in reinventing my approach to painting from the ground up and already overcommitted. On the other hand, this would be my first gallery show. So I applied and got accepted! Fine art is allowed to be more conceptual and less direct than commercial narrative illustration. The work I’ve been

I'm headed off to IlluxCon's Evening Showcase: Oct 24 and 25, 8pm-midnight at the Hilton Doubletree in Reading, PA. Two months ago I threw out my entire art process and started over from the ground up. I bought ten illustration boards and covered them all in paint. I’m bringing my best five to IlluxCon (at the time of this writing, I leave in less than 48 hours). I’ll write up something more detailed in the next month or two, but for now, please enjoy a sneak peek at my newes

First, the upcoming events: IlluxCon! I look forward to this event all year. I will once again be in the evening showcase, and I will once again be giving a talk on Thursday, Oct 23, at 3 pm! It will be a follow-up to last year’s presentation and if you’re near Reading, PA at the end of October, it’s worth your while to come check it out. You’ll see the best illustration in the industry all in one place, and all the artists of those pieces will be there in person to talk to y

Upcoming Events: IlluxCon! I look forward to this event all year. I will once again be in the evening showcase and I will once again be giving a talk (date/time TBA). ! It will be a follow-up to last year’s presentation and if you’re near Reading, PA at the end of October, it’s worth your while to come check it out. You’ll see the best illustration in the industry all in one place, and all the artists of those pieces will be there in person to talk to you. Main Show: Oct 22-2

You ever just wake up one day and realize you’re carrying around twenty years of psychic dead weight for no reason? I used to do a visualization exercise where I would imagine my inner headspace as a landscape that I could walk around in and explore. During one of these sessions I came across this. "Knotted Thoughts". Acrylic on board. (c) Halloran Parry, 2016. A Gordian Knot of tangled up thoughts and emotions so old it was rotting in place. I kept walking. Metaphorically, o

One hundred artists. One DJ. One day only. "Attention art enthusiasts, supporters, collectors, curators, and creators! Please join the inaugural 10X10 Art Show on Sunday, July 13th from 1-4 PM at Seaport Studios - a vibrant community art space located in Richmond and home to Engineered Artworks and Five Ton Crane. This pop-up art show will feature a finely curated collection of 100 Bay Area artists - each who have contributed unique, small format pieces to this micro gallery.

It’s a meme now. We do something because we expect a certain result and when we don’t get that result, we’re disappointed. This, I think, is a consequence of a goal-oriented culture. I’ve read all the biz-lit books and they all say “set a goal, work toward the goal, and above all, avoid distractions, because otherwise you’ll never accomplish anything big and then you’ll have nothing to brag about at dinner parties.” And it’s true that most really big accomplishments don’t ju

Chapman Street Studios will participate in its first East Bay Open Studios this year. We're a new studio, just opened, and we're excited to show you our collection of artists. I've got new art no one has seen and it will be on display June 7-8. And, on Sunday only, Mollie's Organics will be on site with their incomparable cake bombs. I've had a few and now I want nothing else. June 7-8 11am - 5pm Chapman Street Studios 2908 Chapman St Oakland, CA 94601 Artists: Halloran Parry

Me, contemplating lugging all my paints outside for the first time. I should have seen it coming. I live on an island. And the lesson of island living is "where there's water, there's wind." So on Sunday morning when I woke up to cloudy skies and a light but constant breeze around my house, I should have realized that the cafe I was supposed to go to - a little shack on the end of a dock in a marina - would have a much more challenging sort of weather. But it was the middle o

There's a particular type of brain rot that afflicts creatives, especially aspiring creatives: those people whose ambition vastly exceed their current skill. If you're an aspiring illustrator, you're mired deep in a slog of skill building. You're getting portfolios reviews but no jobs and you have artists and art directors telling you your anatomy needs work and your lighting is off and your forms are flat. And so you're practicing your figure drawing and doing some extra sti

The first of my pieces for my collaboration with Mollie's Organics. The newsletter is taking a turn this year. Definitely for the longer, hopefully for the better. If you have friends who enjoy this type of long-form content, by all means, forward this email to them. The more people we have on board, the better. I've been reading "Elements of a Durable Civilization" by Stewart Brand. He talks about the need to think in large time scales, the need to think of ourselves as good

Well, IX ended ::checks calendar:: a month ago so it's high time to welcome all the new folks to the list and tell the rest of you what's going on and how it went. IX is an annual convention for imaginative realism art every October in Reading, Pennsylvania. It celebrates science fiction and fantasy art and illustration. Usually, if you want to see, say, comic book art, you'd have to go to a convention for comic book fans and make your way to the artists' alley. But at IX it'