Michael Parkes followed education at the University of Kansas in the early 60's, a time in which realism wasn't very fashionable. So Parkes was educated in an abstract-expressionistic style like Pollock and De Kooning. After a couple of years working in this style and after a time of reflection and an inner mystical search Parkes concluded that the abstract-expressionistic style didn't suit his ideas and visions. He put down his pencils and left with his wife for India. Here they lived for almost five years. After his return Parkes sat down behind his easel again and this time he started working in a detailed realistic style.

The world of Michael Parkes In the work of Parkes a lot of elements are to be seen on a regular basis. The interaction between human beings and animals, but also the use of symbolism is an ever-recurring phenomenon. His work is more that just a beautiful picture. Parkes experiences beauty as a very important element, but it goes beyond this. For a lifetime Parkes studied many different cultures, oriental religions and alternative traditions, like the Greek mythology, the Native Indian traditions and pre-Buddhist Japan. All this knowledge he absorbed carefully. Together with his own creativity Parkes recreates these ancient myths and stories into his own language for a contemporary public. This results in beautiful and elegant paintings in which the viewer has some matter to think about.

About printing a stone lithograph:

Michael Parkes designs and prints his lithographs in Switzerland. Although many artists have turned to zinc or aluminium plates as these are easier to work with, Michael Parkes prefers the use of stones for the making of his lithographs. He considers the 160 million years old stones he uses for his lithographs to be an integral part of the creative process. The stone becomes a living part of the artistic play.

 The process starts with drawing the image on the stone by using a greasy, black lithographic pencil. This usually takes three to twelve days, depending on the size and complexity of the image. The main problem is that mistakes cannot be erased. Small corrections can be made with a sharp knife, but if major corrections are needed, it is necessary to start again on a new stone.

After the basic design is drawn on the stone, the printer becomes involved in the process and artist and printer take the image forward trough its many stages to completion. The tradition of master printer is handed down from one generation to the next. The printers Parkes works with, were taught by the master that printed Kokoschka, Giacometti and Leger. Lithography is an unpredictable art and artist and printer must be attuned to each other and must be extremely flexible to make the process successful. Questions of composition, color and atmosphere are discussed between artist and printer before printing begins. The initial drawing only gives a suggestion of what the actual litho will become. The unpredictability of the process means that the original ideas might have to be changed several times to correct mistakes or to tae advantage of ‘accidents’ that look promising.

Now the drawing is on the stone, it needs to be etched onto the surface of the stone to be used for printing. Unlike intaglio or metal plate etching, the lithographic etch on the stone does not etch beneath the surface. The etch solution consists of nitric, tannic and phosphoric acids with gum Arabic, and its purpose is to unite chemically the fatty components of the drawing materials with the stone without defacing the surface of the stone. What makes the lithograph process possible is the principle that water and oil do not mix. The etch makes the image more receptive to the ink while the stone remains perfectly flat. But if the stone is not perfectly prepared and etched the image is either etched away or starts to fill in with the ink after only a short time. 

After etching, the color is mixed to begin printing. During the printing, which is done on a Heidelberg press built in 1906, the stone must be kept wet at all times. The ink is controlled in small quantities during printing to maintain a balanced edition.

Even though there are numerous techniques for printing a stone lithograph, the traditional approach is to use one litho stone for each color. When printed, the colors and designs are superimposed to complete the finished image. This technique was created primarily for security the last century when large editions were printed. Before photo lithography, stone lithography was the only pictorial media available to printers. As in the case of Toulouse-Lautrec posters, large editions were possible only by replacing each stone as the images deteriorated during printing.