This blog is for Demri as an Artist, Model and Muse, not as Layne's girlfriend, her drug addiction or her personal life. However, her personal and private life influences her art, so I am going to add here just the basic information so all of you know how was the personality of artist Demri, in order to understand her art.
In the blog sections "Who?", "Snapshot" and "Trivia" you will find more information about Demri's private life.
Demri Lara Parrott was born February 22, 1969, the biological daughter of Kathleen Ann née Austin and Dennis Wayne Dougherty, but at the time of her birth, her 18-year-old mother had been married to Stephen John Parrott, aged 21, for 21 days. They had metthrough mutual friends.
Austin originally planned to name her Erin Lynn Austin (she liked the sound of it), but after she and Parrott got married, the name changed. Her husband didn’t like the name Erin, but he did like Lara. Austin thought she had heard the name Demery somewhere and suggested it. He asked her to write it down, and she spelled it Demri, adding Lara next to it. Parrott liked it, and when Demri was born the next day, the name stuck. [1]
Kathleen Austin: “She was definitely entertaining as a child. She never knew a stranger. Would approach anyone, anytime, anywhere at 2 years old. Her social interaction at that age was dominated by young adults. She is in my college yearbook, I am not.
When she was two years old, when we were at my parents’ house, she would disappear into my parents’ bedroom. My mother has a full length mirror on her closet door. Demri would stand in front of the mirror, take whatever she could reach off the dresser and do commercials. ‘You need to buy this ‘cause it really-really works!’, etc. It was hilarious, and she would do it for hours if allowed. She was the first grandchild, and I won’t say spoiled, just well loved. My mom was 40 when she was born which I realize now was young, however it is so. At the time my dad had a special relationship with Demri, they were close. I’m happy they’re together now.” [2]
Years later, Demri would jokingly tell people that when her mother was in labor, the doctors had given her a shot of Demerol for the pain and she liked it so much, she named her daughter after it. Demri didn’t like her name at first, because people would mispronounce or mishear it. At the age of two, she had a strong enough sense of self to tell people her name and how to spell it. [1] Demri pronounced her surname Puh-row, not like the exotic bird.
When she was two, her grandmother had made her an angel costume for Halloween with a gold halo that went above her head. Kathleen Austin and her mother were taking Demri to her great-grandmother’s house so she could see Demri in her costume. During the car ride, Demri was tugging at the halo. “Demri, you’re going to mess up your hair, honey,” her grandmother told her. “But, grandma, the goddamn halo won’t stay up!” Demri’s grandmother almost drove the car off the road. [1]
Demri could communicate and socialize beyond her years. As a three-year-old, Demri was tested by experts at the University of Washington, who told her parents she had the vocabulary of a high school senior, but her exceptional language skills weren’t always well received by adults or other children.
Demri’s parents’ marriage did not last long. Austin later married a Child Protective Services caseworker and gave birth to their son, Devin C. Remme, on June 20, 1974. That marriage ended in 1976, and Austin would later marry Dennis Murphy, with whom she would have two children: Derek J. P. Murphy, born November 15, 1980, and David James Michael Murphy, born on June 12, 1982. According to her mother, Demri was closest to Devin and Derek – the oldest two of her siblings. Demri used her stepfather’s surname – going by Demri Murphy while growing up but never legally changed her birth name. [1]
The family moved to Arlington, a town about an hour north of Seattle.
When Demri was in grade school, her friend Nanci Hubbard-Mills says she was “boisterous, not afraid to speak her mind”. In an art class, the teacher had assigned them to make pumpkins and fruit out of clay. As a joke, Demri ignored the instructions and made a head with an arrow in it.
Karie Pfeiffer-Simmons met Demri when she was in fifth grade and Demri was a year ahead of her at Post Middle School and the two became friends about a year later.
“She was very outgoing, very well-liked. Just petite, beautiful. She just lit up the room. She liked to be a class clown, get attention, and joke around. She would sneak out through the windows of the classroom and skip class. She was always doing funny things or charming the teachers so that she would get good grades that way.” [1]
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