Dan's Cover Artist: Mickey Paraskevas Paints Another Christmas Classic

To celebrate the Christmas holiday, this week’s cover features the art of longtime Dan’s Papers cover artist Mickey Paraskevas. Here, he discusses his decades-long portfolio of memorable Dan’s covers, the Christmas memories that inspire his paintings, and his plans for the holiday and new year.

Talking Christmas with Mickey Paraskevas

Your Christmas covers are some of Dan’s most iconic, and it’s great to see a new one! What’s your secret to depicting the nostalgia of the holiday in unique ways year after year?

My mother Betty always loved Christmas. She always managed to find the perfect gifts for us. My wonderful mother-in-law, Priscilla Bruno, like my mom, simply loved Christmas too. Our houses were always decorated from top to bottom.

I have many memories from my childhood of driving into the city on Christmas Eve to spend time with Harry Rigby, the Broadway producer. He was a friend of my parents. I would look through his book collection and stare at the art on his walls. His tree was filled with small toys, a habit I emulated years later.

On the ride home, I can still hear the stories of Jean Shepherd talking about that Red Ryder BB Gun and how it would shoot his eye out, long before the much-loved movie came out. Jean was a huge influence on my humor.

Years later, my mother-in-law Priscilla and I loved to drive around and look at Christmas lights and shop in East Hampton. We blasted the Christmas songs on SXM and enjoyed the ride. I gifted my sister-in-law Lisanne a ticket to see Springsteen on Broadway for Christmas. That was a blast. I was fortunate to see it twice since after sharing how fantastic the show was with my mother-in-law, she wondered why she was not invited.

Haha. I always tried to never disappoint her. So once again we enjoyed Bruce Springsteen on Broadway. She loved it and smiled throughout the show. Her joy and smile brought a smile to my face that Christmas.

You’re right. There have been some very iconic covers for Dan’s Christmas covers. One of my favorites was the snowman trapped in the snow globe holding a help me sign. Some people thought it was a little sad. I thought it was funny. Especially since our whole family is not fond of snow. My wife and sister-in-law have not-so-fond memories of shoveling their parents’ long driveway. Snow forecasts still frighten them. In retrospect, I should have painted them in the snow globe with a help me sign.

There was one cover with a Santa walking in the snow carrying a gas can. The economy at the time was a mess, and I thought it expressed frustration with the prices of gas and the economy. Someone wrote to me that she thought Santa would burn down a house. Well, perhaps someone ate Santa’s cookies that year, and he was upset. Who knows. People sometimes don’t get the point or the message of the painting, but I have said in the past that every picture tells a story and each individual interprets it differently, which is always good. It makes them think.

There was a terrific cover painting (I’m patting myself on the back) of FAO Schwarz with tons of Christmas shoppers. I painted Times Square for one year and even included the infamous Dan (Rattiner) himself walking the snowy streets filled with shoppers.

One of my other favorites was of my in-laws and my father-in-law Artie’s 1931 Model A roadster which he purchased 51 years ago. As the family story is told, when Artie was 15 years old he sold his bicycle to buy his first car which was the exact Model A Roadster complete with rumble seat. Over the years, my in-laws would drive the car as far as Montauk. My father-in-law loved antique cars. My wife and sister-in-law have wonderful memories of going for rides as kids in that car.

You can see a lot of my covers online at jrkrol8.wixsite.com/michaelparaskevas/dan-s-papers.

Can you discuss some of the charming details included in this cover painting?

Sadly Lili, my sister-in-law’s Westie (featured in the art), passed away in November. She was a feisty, huge voice in her house and all our lives. My wife and I based a comic strip on Lili and Priscilla’s German shepherd Derek. The strip is a comical look at their friendship. They will both live on in the strip. I’m still hoping Dan’s Papers will someday run the comic. Hint! Hint!

We truly believe in the spirit of Christmas. My wife swears she saw Santa in her room when she was 5 years old. She tells me, “We must believe.” She tells me Santa is fabulous to her every year. She says, “What’s not to believe?” And then the credit card bill arrives! Haha. Thus, the cover comes from a story we always tell of our leaving cookies for Santa every Christmas. After all, he is very good to her each year.

We’ve been doing this for years. One year, Lili discovered these delectable baked goods fresh from Maria’s oven and, well, Santa didn’t get any cookies. Neither did we. Lili was very content, to say the least.

What is your favorite Christmas tradition or memory?

As I said before, Jean Shepherd shaped a lot of memories for me. If you don’t know his writing and only know the movie A Christmas Story, you are missing 90% of what Jean was about. Look him up.

We have a tradition each year where I like painting our family Christmas cards. Maria and I have been sending them out for years, and Maria’s write-up on the back always gets rave reviews. Our cards pay tribute to our parents, family, pets, etc. The goal is to remember our memories, treasure them and make new ones. Picking out the assortment of photos in the interior is a constant heated discussion of what we should include.

The covers have, for the past 10 years, been a homage to my in-laws. I will paint the farm or one of Artie’s antique cars, or Artie setting up the manger, which he lovingly did each year complete with an outdoor speaker of Christmas carols. In his words: the true meaning of Christmas. I think they have been some of the best Dan’s covers too. Priscilla loved them.

I think she liked being on the cover over the years. She had a great smile. A funny story is that in the beginning, I always painted just Artie but Priscilla questioned me where she was in the paintings. So, in the last few years, Priscilla’s wish was granted and she was always beyond thrilled that she and Artie were starring on Dan’s covers. Haha.

Do you have any big Christmas or New Year’s plans this year?

Before COVID, we always had a Christmas party with our nearest and dearest friends and family at our home in Southampton. Now we are a bit more cautious and low-key. Christmas Eve is for family, and during Christmas month we gather with small groups of friends — COVID tests in hand. Haha. Just kidding — well maybe not. New Year’s Eve is for the start of my 2024 project: Painting a Week 2024. I figure I’ll have 52 paintings at the end of the year and will have an exhibit in 2025. Stay tuned.

Care to share any closing thoughts or additional info?

(I would ask readers to) please have a look at paraskevas365.com to see one of my favorite projects: A Painting a Day for a Year. It was such a blast. If you want, you can order a print of a particular painting. Just email me for details on the website. The prints are 20″ x 20″ with the image at 18″ x 18″.

We are still working on a ton of projects — animation, books, kids books. It’s always something. We certainly aren’t bored. Don’t forget to have a look at Happy Ever Hereafter, our graphic novel for your Kindle. It’s over on Amazon, and like we said (in the December 1, 2023 cover artist interview), it’s not for kids. It’s funny, but it’s not for the little ones. It’s the strange story of Happy Ashe, a funeral director who talks to the dead. The dead talk back too. It’s a dark comedy, of course.

As always, it is always an honor to be a Dan’s cover artist. Thank you to the wonderful Vicki (Schneps), whom I am looking forward to meeting one day, and, of course, Dan, whom I consider a longtime friend, for allowing me to create the Christmas cover.

Merry Christmas to all and a happy healthy 2024.