Remembering Elizabeth Parsons
This article originally appeared in The Ocracoker in 2008. Elizabeth passed away on January 30, 2016; her funeral service is Saturday, February 6th at 2pm at the Assembly of God Church. Now that she is gone, all I can say is that if you were able to meet her and purchase one of her original artworks, you are lucky indeed.
Down at the end of Lighthouse Road, Elizabeth Parsons paints colorful folk art scenes of Ocracoke Village to sell in her shop, Pamlico Gifts. Some of the buildings and boats in her paintings are familiar to us today – the lighthouse and Albert Styron Store, for example – but some exist only in memory.
“There’s the old Pamlico Inn,” Elizabeth points out, “and there’s the old mail boat Aleta.”
Elizabeth has lived on Ocracoke since her parents moved back home to the island when she was two. She can recall a simpler time on Ocracoke, and her paintings reflect her childhood memories. Old houses surrounded by trees and garden flowers grace the narrow streets of her painted landscapes, and fishing skiffs are tied up in the creek. The lighthouse stands sentinel over the village scenes, just as it does today.
Elizabeth’s paintings have become very popular, and one was chosen for the 2007 Ocrafolk Festival t-shirt design. Her artwork was also displayed at in a special exhibit at the Ocracoke Preservation Society Museum in 2005.
Elizabeth opened Pamlico Gifts in 1980, and started painting t-shirts with pictures of Blackbeard, Ocracoke sea creatures (blue crabs were a popular design) and village scenes. Over the years she has painted on seashells, wood, and canvas, ranging from small lighthouses painted on whelks to large weathered boards that depict several island homes and landmarks. She also paints hats and tote bags, and creates amazingly intricate shell art baskets and vases.
Many if the items available in Pamlico Gifts are still handmade by Elizabeth, but her paintings are the most popular.
“I have to constantly work on them,” she says. “As soon as I put one out, it’s gone.”
Her husband, Roy, is also an island treasure, well known on Ocracoke as a musician and star of the Ocrafolk Opry. Pamlico Gifts is the only shop on the island where you can get a Roy Parsons t-shirt to go with your Roy Parsons CD, “Songs and Tales of Ocracoke Island.”
Married for over fifty years, the couple raised four children on the island. Pamlico Gifts is right next to their home, which Roy built soon after they got married in 1950, using lumber salvaged from the old W.W.II Navy base. Although his heath has kept him from the stage this summer, Roy Parsons continues to enjoy music and visitors. The Parsons would like to thank folks from their church and the Ocrafolk Opry for visiting and bringing food during Roy’s illness.
Pamlico Gifts is located at the end of Lighthouse Road on Ocracoke, and is open Mon. – Sat. from 9am -8pm. In addition to her artwork, Parsons also stocks a full array of gifts for all ages, most with a nautical theme. Ship models, hand-carved birds, mugs and notecards are all available, along with many piratical items. When you visit, be sure to notice the flowers – Elizabeth has an amazingly green thumb, and her dinner-plate hibiscus flowers are always a sight to behold.
