Paintings by Park Neff

Park Neff, of Arcola, was born and raised in the Mississippi Delta and graduated from Ole Miss. A ninth-generation farmer, he tilled the rich soil around Delta City for over 30 years and hunted the plentiful game in the area. He grew to have a great appreciation for the woods, the fields and the water.

Following the Lord’s call, Park left farming, sort of like Peter and John left their boats, and became a pastor. With degrees from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary, he has served several churches in the Delta.

On a whim in January 2012, Park started sketching and found out that he did have a bit of talent for that. On March 9, 2012,his good friend Sammy Britt put a painting knife in his hand and started him on the path to painting.  Much to everyone’s surprise, including his, Park discovered that he had the eyes and hands of an artist.

For the subjects of his paintings, he harkens back to his roots as a farmer and hunter and embraces his new-found love of the water as a canoeist. His landscapes include fields bursting with crops ready for harvest. There are also scenes from the woods and views from his canoeing adventures in local lakes and streams.

Park is primarily a plein air painter and enjoys being outside surrounded by God’s beautiful world as he paints.

Artist’s Statement

Following in the tradition of Hawthorne, Hensche and Britt, my paintings are an attempt to interpret the reflection of light. Using the concept of light keys and “one color spot next to another”, I try to capture the reflection of light off various planes of objects in nature.