Gordena Parker Jackson (nee Gordena Bland Parker), painter, printmaker, craftsperson, draftsman, and designer, was born in Pleasanton, California on January 3, 1900. She was living in Berkeley, California in 1917 and soon thereafter enrolled in the California College of Arts and Crafts.

She met fellow artist Frederic Osman Jackson (known also as “Ajax” or “Jaxon”) whom she married in 1925. They established a studio at 2425 Hearst Avenue in Berkeley. A card advertising their studio lists the two artists as Osman Jaxon and Gordena Parker. Products from their studio are listed as “Original designs executed in wood-block printing on dresses, draperies, etc. Batiks. Parchment Shades. Decorating, Screens. Cards, mottos, etc. Photo-coloring. Commercial Designs.”

Gordena Parker was a member of the San Francisco Art Association and the San Cruz Art League and exhibited with both groups. Solo exhibitions of her work were mounted at Mills College in 1933 and Stanford University in 1939. Her work was included in exhibitions at the National Academy of Design in 1942 and 1943, and Roundup-Cowboys and Indians, a traveling exhibition generated by the National Gallery of Art in 1946.

Gordena Parker died in Berkeley, California on April 10, 1993.