The thought of helping others was always on a Burkeville freelance artist’s mind when COVID-19 hit.
But it wasn’t until she wanted to hear more about the healthcare community that she knew how she could help.
Karen Lorena Parker wanted to amplify stories of the province’s unsung heroes by partnering with the BC Cancer Foundation in a fundraiser through custom designed masks.
She is launching a collection of six face masks with her signature floral designs and for every one sold, $5 will be donated to BC Cancer.
And for every mask bought, patrons are entered into a draw for one of Parker's paintings.
“I launched my own artwork to have that conversation about how we can care for our community," said Parker, adding that the BC Cancer was onboard with the idea of putting "cancer patient art on masks" as a fundraiser.
"I wanted these art masks to amplify how we care for our community, the immunosuppressed, our healthcare workers.
“Whether you wear a mask or not wear a mask, if you have someone next to you who is immune-suppressed or immunocompromised how are people prepared to care for them.”
Parker told the Richmond News that she had to work through the stress of the pandemic and learned to be innovative and flexible.
“What else can you do but to get creative during this time,” she added.
“My artwork is an expressive realism and I want to take this opportunity to start that conversation of how we listen to the stories of cancer patients and how they are navigating through the pandemic.”
Meanwhile, Parker and roughly 250 other artists will be participating in this year’s annual Eastside Cultural Crawl, a large festival showcasing local artists’ work in Vancouver.
However, instead of a completely virtual event, artists are inviting community members to book appointments to visit in-person studio from Nov. 12 to 15 and Nov. 19 to 22.
“The cultural crawl is definitely taking on this big challenge to help artists showcase their work and to get the general public involved – safely of course,” said Parker.
“This is the time to see how an artist works and what their studio looks like and hopefully people are interested.”
For more information on Parker’s custom designed masks and her in-person studio visits for the cultural crawl, visit Msparker.shop.
