Port Huron artist re-imagines concept of villains
The perfect balance of work for Jody Parmann is coffee, a napping baby, an audiobook playing in the background and her iPad and Apple pencil.
Parmann, local artist and co-owner of the Raven Café, has recently started a new body of work called “Bitty Baddies.”
The idea stemmed from Parmann contemplating the idea of what a villain is and appreciating Margaret Keane’s style of work from the 1950s. Folks may be familiar with Keane’s work after the movie "Big Eyes" chronicled her rise to fame as she painted under the name of her husband.
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Parmann’s portraits have the same big eyes that Keane was known for.
“I started an (acrylic) piece of my son and I am still working on it,” she said. “But I love the style so much.”
But for the majority of the work, Parmann decided to focus on creating images of well-known villains.
“It kind of came with my experience of being a business owner and a mom,” she said. “At times, I am the bad guy. It is kind of a reflection of ‘am I really the bad guy? Are bad guys always bad guys? Do they start out as innocent children? How has life and perceptions changed them into villains?’”
Parmann has created portraits of Disney character villains such as Ursula from "The Little Mermaid," Halloween villains like the three witches from "Hocus Pocus," classic villains like Frankenstein, and even President Donald Trump.
She said a good story or movie usually always comes with a well-written villain.
“So the idea that maybe someone you think is a bad guy in real life is not necessarily a bad guy, or maybe it could be their perception and your perception is different,” she said. “Maybe they are bad guys who were once innocent and sweet as any child. I think about what their story or past is that changed them into a bad guy.”
And when her kids aren’t napping, they like to peer over Parmann’s shoulder to see what Bitty Baddies creation is coming next.
Judah, 5, loves his mom’s most recent Frankenstein portrait. He loves to hear the story of the character.
While Judah favors playing with building blocks, his one-year-old sister already loves to color like her mom.
“My daughter really likes to color. She can sit at the table and color for quite a while and she thinks crayons are delicious,” said Parmann, laughing. “Sometimes I turn their scribbles into other things and transform what they drew and they love that.”
While she has a moment of quiet in the house, Parmann plans to start working on a 1960s Dracula Bitty Baddies portrait. And she’s looking for suggestions for more villains to create as well.
People can head to the Bitty Baddies Facebook page to purchase shirts and to vote on the next character for Parmann to create. They can also stop into the Raven to purchase Bitty Baddies postcards as well.
For more information, go to www.Facebook.com/bittybaddies.
Contact Nicole Hayden at (810) 989-6279 or nhayden@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter @nicoleandpig.