When Joseph Parker spent four months in Tucson for a writing residency, he thought heβd eventually end up in California.
But like many of us, the Wisconsin native fell in love with Tucson.
βIt was the scenery out here β the mountains, the cactus, the palm trees,β says Parker, who you might know as Jos Par. βI ended up signing a year lease. I kept signing year leases thinking, this is the last time, Iβm going to move somewhere else. And then I was like, I think I just live in Tucson.β
He wouldnβt call himself an artist then, but heβs certainly an artist now. His latest project is a very special series of designs that highlight our cityβs quirkiest landmarks.
![Jos Par](https://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/tucson.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/c/38/c3850cc2-14a1-11ef-abd4-e3a4956e35bb/664b83c392aa2.image.png?resize=200%2C199 200w, https://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/tucson.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/c/38/c3850cc2-14a1-11ef-abd4-e3a4956e35bb/664b83c392aa2.image.png?resize=300%2C298 300w, https://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/tucson.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/c/38/c3850cc2-14a1-11ef-abd4-e3a4956e35bb/664b83c392aa2.image.png?resize=400%2C397 400w, https://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/tucson.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/c/38/c3850cc2-14a1-11ef-abd4-e3a4956e35bb/664b83c392aa2.image.png?resize=540%2C536 540w, https://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/tucson.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/c/38/c3850cc2-14a1-11ef-abd4-e3a4956e35bb/664b83c392aa2.image.png?resize=750%2C745 750w, https://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/tucson.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/c/38/c3850cc2-14a1-11ef-abd4-e3a4956e35bb/664b83c392aa2.image.png?resize=1200%2C1191 1200w, https://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/tucson.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/c/38/c3850cc2-14a1-11ef-abd4-e3a4956e35bb/664b83c392aa2.image.png?resize=1398%2C1388 1700w)
Jos Par's designs are influenced by Tucson, along with pop culture and music.
Tucson Tales: highlighting the weird and special parts of our city
When Parker started working at local print shop Cream in 2018, he saw all the local artists who came through the doors requesting their handcrafted designs be printed on tees and totes.
βI was like, I want to do that, too,β Parker says. βSo I just started drawing. I feel like itβs more backwards than how people traditionally do it β people are usually artists first and figure out how to get things printed, but I knew about printing and wanted to make art.β
"Before I was screen-printing, I never drew at all,β he says.
He describes his designs as βsilly whimsical desert art with cosmic motifs.β You might see hints of both existentialism and humor, with sayings like βthe breadsticks at Olive Garden are vegan" and βexisting in a body is exhausting.β
![Jos Par](https://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/tucson.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/b/2a/b2a9098a-14a1-11ef-afe4-ab48a463639b/6647e24b250b2.image.jpg?resize=200%2C197 200w, https://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/tucson.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/b/2a/b2a9098a-14a1-11ef-afe4-ab48a463639b/6647e24b250b2.image.jpg?resize=300%2C296 300w, https://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/tucson.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/b/2a/b2a9098a-14a1-11ef-afe4-ab48a463639b/6647e24b250b2.image.jpg?resize=400%2C394 400w, https://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/tucson.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/b/2a/b2a9098a-14a1-11ef-afe4-ab48a463639b/6647e24b250b2.image.jpg?resize=540%2C532 540w, https://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/tucson.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/b/2a/b2a9098a-14a1-11ef-afe4-ab48a463639b/6647e24b250b2.image.jpg?resize=750%2C739 750w, https://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/tucson.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/b/2a/b2a9098a-14a1-11ef-afe4-ab48a463639b/6647e24b250b2.image.jpg?resize=1179%2C1162 1200w)
Jos Par's designs are available on shirts, stickers, totes, hats and prints.
Tucsonβs scenery is what made him move here permanently back in 2016. Now, the scenery inspires many of his designs, along with pop culture references like the βBarbieβ movie and music β his βemotional cowboyβ design is inspired by a Weyes Blood song.
Each of the Jos Par designs are printed on black (or sometimes tie-dye) shirts at local shop Forward Printing, where heβs worked since 2022. The color choice is partially because he only wears black tees and wants to make sure heβs printing something he would personally wear and purchase. But itβs also because he has a small home and can only keep so many variants of tees in stock before running out of room.
The designs are also created specifically with screen-printing in mind. You can purchase his artwork on T-shirts, tote bags, hats, stickers and prints, which he sells onlineΒ and in person at artisan markets and shops like Pop Cycle,Β Arizona Poppy and Bookmans.
βI had no idea I could do it,β he says. βI never thought I would get to the point where I was doing markets.β
![Jos Par](https://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/tucson.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/b/8e/b8eb48c6-14a1-11ef-a959-d7a0857ca50d/664b839611d82.image.png?resize=200%2C199 200w, https://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/tucson.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/b/8e/b8eb48c6-14a1-11ef-a959-d7a0857ca50d/664b839611d82.image.png?resize=300%2C299 300w, https://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/tucson.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/b/8e/b8eb48c6-14a1-11ef-a959-d7a0857ca50d/664b839611d82.image.png?resize=400%2C399 400w, https://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/tucson.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/b/8e/b8eb48c6-14a1-11ef-a959-d7a0857ca50d/664b839611d82.image.png?resize=540%2C538 540w, https://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/tucson.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/b/8e/b8eb48c6-14a1-11ef-a959-d7a0857ca50d/664b839611d82.image.png?resize=750%2C748 750w, https://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/tucson.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/b/8e/b8eb48c6-14a1-11ef-a959-d7a0857ca50d/664b839611d82.image.png?resize=1200%2C1197 1200w, https://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/tucson.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/b/8e/b8eb48c6-14a1-11ef-a959-d7a0857ca50d/664b839611d82.image.png?resize=1394%2C1390 1700w)
The debut design in Jos Par's Tucson Tales series commemorates the bats under the Rillito bridge.
His latest project is one he dubs βTucson Tales,β which pays homage to Tucsonβs funkiest landmarks in the style of comic book covers.
βI really wanted to start making Tucson shirts that didnβt have a cactus on them,β Parker says. βI went through a period where I realized every shirt I was putting out had cactus or mountains on it and I was looking at other shirts and other shops and everyone was doing cactus shirts β which I love. But I want to highlight other parts of Tucson because thereβs so much about this city that makes it so special and so weird.β
The first design is dedicated to the bats who live under the Rillito River bridge. The second spotlights Tucsonβs favorite McDonaldβs β the one on Tanque Verde that has had a T. rex out front since 1994, inspired by the success of βJurassic Park.β
βThe first few days of moving to Tucson, I drove out to Sabino Canyon and I passed by the dinosaur,β he says. βI was like, what the fβk is that? Why is there a dinosaur there? And Iβve been obsessed with it.β
![Jos Par](https://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/tucson.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/a/f6/af608f3c-14a1-11ef-9a14-9b9daa60125e/6647e2459cc04.image.jpg?resize=200%2C200 200w, https://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/tucson.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/a/f6/af608f3c-14a1-11ef-9a14-9b9daa60125e/6647e2459cc04.image.jpg?resize=300%2C300 300w, https://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/tucson.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/a/f6/af608f3c-14a1-11ef-9a14-9b9daa60125e/6647e2459cc04.image.jpg?resize=400%2C400 400w, https://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/tucson.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/a/f6/af608f3c-14a1-11ef-9a14-9b9daa60125e/6647e2459cc04.image.jpg?resize=540%2C540 540w, https://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/tucson.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/a/f6/af608f3c-14a1-11ef-9a14-9b9daa60125e/6647e2459cc04.image.jpg?resize=750%2C750 750w, https://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/tucson.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/a/f6/af608f3c-14a1-11ef-9a14-9b9daa60125e/6647e2459cc04.image.jpg?resize=1080%2C1080 1200w)
Jos Par's latest design in the Tucson Tales series celebrates the Rattlesnake Bridge.
The third design in the series β which was released on May 20 (aka 5/20) β features our iconic Rattlesnake Bridge, which was designed by Simon Donovan and hovers over Broadway near downtown. The shirt sold out in less than two hours, but it'll be reprinted soon.
βI pass by the snake bridge on my way to work every morning and as I was trying to think of iconic Tucson landmarks, I was like, βOh duh, the snake bridge,ββ he says. βWhen I first moved to Tucson and someone told me about it, I immediately went to drive to find it.β
Naturally, Parker now has a big backlog of Tucson icons waiting to be drawn onto tees and stickers, and he plans to keep the series going as long as he can think up fun landmarks to draw. At any point, heβs usually working on two to five different designs β both in the Tucson Tales series and not.
His βBarbieβ design that reads βWhen I found out patriarchy isnβt about horses, I lost interest,β took him about a week to finish β when he heard the line while watching the movie in theaters, he knew he had to create something.Β Other designs, especially ones in the Tucson Tales series, can take months to complete.Β
![Jos Par](https://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/tucson.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/c/86/c8679872-14a1-11ef-b2e6-ebd9c960d99c/6647e26f9ae9b.image.png?resize=200%2C200 200w, https://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/tucson.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/c/86/c8679872-14a1-11ef-b2e6-ebd9c960d99c/6647e26f9ae9b.image.png?resize=300%2C300 300w, https://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/tucson.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/c/86/c8679872-14a1-11ef-b2e6-ebd9c960d99c/6647e26f9ae9b.image.png?resize=400%2C401 400w, https://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/tucson.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/c/86/c8679872-14a1-11ef-b2e6-ebd9c960d99c/6647e26f9ae9b.image.png?resize=540%2C541 540w, https://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/tucson.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/c/86/c8679872-14a1-11ef-b2e6-ebd9c960d99c/6647e26f9ae9b.image.png?resize=750%2C751 750w, https://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/tucson.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/c/86/c8679872-14a1-11ef-b2e6-ebd9c960d99c/6647e26f9ae9b.image.png?resize=1200%2C1202 1200w, https://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/tucson.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/c/86/c8679872-14a1-11ef-b2e6-ebd9c960d99c/6647e26f9ae9b.image.png?resize=1258%2C1260 1700w)
Many of Jos Par's designs are inspired by the desert, but he thought up this one while watching the "Barbie" movie in theaters.
If you ask Parker what his favorite thing about Tucson is, heβll tell you the summers β except heβs definitely joking.
What made Parker move to Tucson almost a decade ago is still his favorite thing about our desert city β the plants.
βMy house is filled with plants. All the plants at Forward are from me bringing them from home because I ran out of space. I wasnβt into plants before I moved out here either. I think walking through neighborhoods here is like walking through a botanical garden,β he says. βI remember doing a poetry festival in Denver and I went to the Denver Botanic Gardens and they had a Sonoran Desert section. I was like, βThis is my neighborhood.ββ
βThere are a lot of things to love about Tucson,β he says.