Camille's Art

You're Kidding -- Right?

2011-11-23T08:07:00.001-08:00

She is so sassy I can't stand it! That look just says that she doesn't take any guff from anyone. I love it when we are strong enough to stand up and be our own person - regardless what anyone thinks. SOLD.

Red

2011-10-14T09:24:00.000-07:00

I love her hair! My hair would look so fabulous like this ... if only I had a lot more of it, it was looooonger, and really red. And, oh, if I weighed a lot less. These paintings are so much fun to do. You can make them be as sassy as you want, and don't have to answer to anyone. I love it.

Red, 8x10 mixed media on paper, SOLD

My New Kimono

2011-10-11T08:03:00.000-07:00

There is something about this series of strong women that makes me want to explore the exotic. I want to give them exotic clothes and wild hair. Do you think that they are strong because they have the freedom to be wild and exotic? Or, do you think they are exotic and wild because they are free?

Wishful Thinking

2011-09-28T07:18:00.000-07:00

Ahh, to be that young again! Nice thought, but really - never again! This is another in my series of Strong Women. Strength in a woman is visible self-confidence; knowing who she is, what she wants and how to get it. I love seeing that in the young women of today. It certainly didn't exist very often when I was young -- only occasional glimpses of what was to come. More power to ya sistas!
Mixed Media 15x22 on paper. $500.00

Old Lacy

2011-09-24T13:01:00.000-07:00

I painted this portrait of Lacy for a friend's birthday. She is one of her dogs in heaven. On the day the photo what shot, she had been moved from the ranch to the house in town, and she was a happy, happy dog. Her owner was happy, too.

Kerri at Port A

2011-09-14T06:32:00.000-07:00

This is the painting that I did on the first day of Liz Hill's workshop. She really looks a lot like my sweet sister. I loved painting her and putting her in this environment.

Model 3

2011-09-13T11:01:00.000-07:00

I took an amazing workshop this weekend from Liz Hill at Dragonfly Gallery this weekend. This is one of a series of models and paintings from that workshop. Liz is an amazing teacher, and has helped me take my art to another level completely. It is difficult to find meet up groups in this area for figure drawing who don't always use nude models. As Liz said, "what can you do with a nude? Nothing!"

Rest a While

2011-09-01T06:14:00.000-07:00

This gentleman was sitting on the bench in the square under one of the big pecan trees by the courthouse. He looked so peaceful as he waited - for whom, I don't know. He is typical of some of the folks in Georgetown. Life is easier here, somewhat slower. I often wish for a more progressive town center - plazas, fountains, flowers, but then I'm reminded that this place has existed pretty much as it is for over 100 years. I bet that our friends from the past rested under this tree, too.

Next Flight

2011-08-29T06:53:00.000-07:00

This is my version of an old painting challenge by Karen Jurick. She manages to take some of the most interesting photographs - which turn into the most interesting paintings. I am working on my photographic techniques - learning how to frame the subject in a more interesting way. We will see what happens with that in the next few weeks.

My bad!

2011-08-14T11:45:00.001-07:00

A few days ago, I wrote about a demonstration I did for some new students - the Apple and Pear painting, and I forgot to give my friend, Polly Jackson credit for teaching me this amazing technique. It was she who opened my eyes to the process that brings such life to acrylic painting. I will be forever grateful to her, and hope that she forgives my thoughtless post.

You can see her link at the bottom of this page - check it out - she is an amazing artist!

Campbell and the Dragon

2011-08-12T08:21:00.000-07:00

When I was in school, I fell in love with scratchboard. There is something about the calmness that it takes to make an image appear out of blackness. Something akin to doing calligraphy maybe. Whatever that is, when I create with a stylus, or pen and ink, I go into a very zen space. All my animals like to gather around me and sleep at my feet. I am totally at peace. Makes me wonder why I don't do that more often!

Rock Candy Mountain

2011-08-08T07:59:00.000-07:00

It is this time of year that I dream of living in New Mexico or Colorado. Texas has been so hot and so dry, I think we are becoming like Phoenix or Las Vegas. Our kids vacation in Colorado every year, hike the mountain trails and rejuvenate. Lucky guys! This little collage sort of captures what I think it might be like to do that. Have fun! See you in a couple of weeks.

Pear and Apple Demonstration

2011-08-02T06:09:00.000-07:00

This little painting was created as a demonstration for some friends who want to learn to paint with acrylics. The technique is the interesting thing, because it layers warm and cool colors on top of each other. Start with a red background, then sketch the outline of your subject in white chalk. Think about the final colors of the subject and first block in the subject with it's cool complement. Do the same with the background. Then paint over the subject again using warm colors. Be sure to leave some of the original background red showing around the edges. Add some detail, and you are done in a flash.

A Rose is a Rose

2011-07-28T06:37:00.001-07:00

I've returned to collage lately to my great delight. I had forgotten how much I enjoy it. Creating something out of bits of paper and paint ... makes me happy.

Best Friends

2011-07-26T07:57:00.000-07:00

I love this picture! I am reminded of how exciting childhood can be, exploring with your best friend, stomping in the water, racing along the beach, looking for treasure! The possibilities are endless and so is the imagination.

The Bobs

2011-07-25T10:49:00.000-07:00

These two characters were seen sipping coffee and smoking cigars on the square in Georgetown, Texas recently. I was told that they are known as "the Bobs" - General Bob on the right, and Tall Bob on the left. Apparently they are often seen doing just this - I suppose that cigars are not allowed at home.

San Miguel de Allende

2010-10-31T10:35:00.001-07:00

I found this new blog - thevirtualpaintout.blospot.com where you use Google streetview to browse around the world and find things to paint. This painting was created using that link to San Miguel de Allende. Because of all the craziness in Mexico now, I'll probably never get to see this beautiful city, but it was really fun to find this spot and paint it.

Anderson Mill

2010-10-29T06:49:00.000-07:00

I got to go plein air painting with Austin Plein Air last week. Anderson Grist Mill near Lake Travis was the location. The group is great to be with - very accomplished artists who share their knowledge freely. I had a wonderful time, and will definitely join them again.

I like this painting because it is so loose and spontaneous - qualities that are hard to get in the studio.

Bedroom is where you find it

2010-10-29T06:41:00.000-07:00

Spanky spends about 8 hours a day sleeping in this chair. He is the epitomy of couch potato, and a boy after my own heart. We try to be more active, but the chair beckons after a day at work. This is my first foray into oil painting after a really long absence. Now I remember why I love working in oil so much. There is such richness that you can't get with acrylics, and it's a forgiving medium.

Desert Lace

2010-06-05T15:26:00.000-07:00

This is another collage reworked. Again, I'm not sure it's finished. It's funny how things look finished, then you take a photograph of them, and you see things that you didn't see before - like that dark line going diagonally across the painting -- soooooo....back to the easel.

Oil Spill

2010-06-05T09:01:00.000-07:00

Damn BP. Having known folks who made their living off drilling for oil, I understand the excitement when a well comes in, and the money starts rolling in. It's pretty hard to think disaster, but no drilling is ever clean - no matter where you are.

Greed

2010-06-05T08:57:00.000-07:00

Sometimes I just gotta say it. This and the painting before are statements about what's going on in the world

New York

2010-06-05T08:54:00.000-07:00

This was a failed collage that had absolutely nothing going for it except a little texture provided by some rice paper. Although the color in this photograph doesn't do it justice, it's a really nice piece now.

Chrysler Building and Friends

2010-06-05T08:49:00.000-07:00

Also an old painting that I tore up and reworked. Sometimes a more interesting image comes from that process.

Escape

2010-06-05T08:46:00.000-07:00

This is a collage that I also reworked. Better now, but I'm not sure it's finished. I'll put it on the wall and look at it for a few days and see if something else develops.

Window to the Past

2010-06-05T08:42:00.001-07:00

This is an old painting that I did in a workshop several years ago. Like most workshop paintings, they don't really have time to gel into something you like. So, reworking has been an exercise that I've enjoyed. I like it now.

Bird Food

2010-06-05T08:13:00.000-07:00

It's been a really long time since I have painted anything, and this last weekend, I made up for it. All the things I've been wanting to do came spilling out. Sunday was a delight because I had my good buddies Ava and Shiela in the studio painting with me.

I've always thought that you cannot create in a vacuum.

The View Out Back

2009-09-22T14:49:00.000-07:00

Sometimes God gives you blessings that you can't believe. Wayne and I have been so blessed to live in this wonderful place. The view out our back door is really beautiful. Usually, you can see a doe and her fawns grazing across the yard, or sometimes the big bucks come out of the woods to pay us a visit. During the long hot summer we have had, we kept a trough of water for them next to the fence.

This painting is also a challenge painting from Polly to paint some part of your house.

Betsy

2009-09-22T14:43:00.000-07:00

This little cow is a challenge painting from Polly Jackson. She gave us the challenge a couple of months ago, and I put off painting it - I guess mainly because I was not very inspired, or I had my doubts about being able to do it very well.

Well, I think she is beautiful, and I don't know why I waited so long!

Campbell's Forest

2009-08-03T17:21:00.000-07:00

My granddaughter, Campbell, turned 13 recently, and her mom and dad have given her a newly decorated room. She was missing some art, so of course Mimi said she would paint something. Trying to reach a balance between something an adult would like and something a teen would like is pretty hard. I hope I succeeded.

Figs in a Bowl

2009-08-01T15:08:00.000-07:00

Figs are an interesting part of my childhood. Granddad used to plant fig trees everywhere he lived. They grew to be magnificent things 10 or 12 feet high, and just as wide. The fruit would come each summer and rippen to a golden rust, with some purple mixed in. When you broke them open, the salmon cololored flesh would be a feast for the eyes and the tastebuds. There was only one problem -- yellow jackets loved to build their nests in the trees. The large green leaves hid them from view, and I always wound up with a sting or two. Definitely not worth the effort in my view!

These figs have already escaped and found their way to a bowl, so I painted them to pay homage to my Granddad. More about him later.

Perilous Crossing

2009-08-01T14:58:00.000-07:00

My friend, Patti Smith, takes wonderful vacations around the world. She recently went to Peru and did the Machu Pichu thing. But while she was there, she captured some magnificent images of the Andes that have captured my imagination and made me long to follow in her footsteps. Being quite broke, that will never happen in this lifetime, but at least I can paint them.

High Meadow

2009-06-27T07:13:00.000-07:00

I have been wanting to do some collage pieces lately, and have had this rattling around in my head for a while. It's been a long time since my collage days, and I'd forgotten how much fun they are to create. I have this wonderful stash of papers that I made in those days, all sorted by color in bins. My friend, Anne Heinrichs (www.anneheinrichs.com) is jealous of this bountiful stash. There are papers made from rice paper, wax and watercolor, acrylic on tissue, stamps, inks, even paper towels that sopped up the mess. Too much fun!

Wayne and Camille

2009-06-14T14:48:00.000-07:00

Sometimes you create something that you know has meaning, but you're just not sure what. That's the case of this painting. I did this work about two years ago as a companion piece to a collage that I did of "orchid" people performing alla cirque de soliel. It languished in my studio, kind of on the back wall, never taking a spotlight, but never quite ready for the dreaded paint out either. Then one day some friends came from Houston to visit, and the first thing Amy said upon seeing this painting was, " Wow! is that you and Wayne?" Never thought of it like that!

Then Polly gave us our next assignment to paint a self portrait. I was preparing canvasses for that assignment, waiting for the paint to dry, when I began studying that painting on the back wall. The more I looked, the more I thought, yeah, it is a portrait of my husband and me. So, back on the easel it went, and new paint was mixed, glasses added to Wayne and more color added to my face. I love the painting now, and think it will have to come inside.

Flamenco Academy

2009-05-16T08:21:00.000-07:00

A couple of years ago I read this wonderful book, "The Flamenco Academy" by Sarah Bird, and was totally enthralled. It was set in Santa Fe and was the story of two young girls who entered the Flamenco Academy. So rich is the character development and story line of this novel, that you almost can feel the beat of their shoes on the wood dance floor. Ever since reading that book, I have wanted to paint a flamenco dancer. I finally created one for my cousin Carol to hang in her new home.

I hope she portrays a sense of power and passion, as well as a little mystery.

Trudy

2009-05-14T14:21:00.001-07:00

I'm finally through traveling for a little while. It seems as if I've been gone forever on one mission or another. Returning to painting has been a challenge. You'd think that someone who gets as much out of art as I do would be excited to get back in the groove, but no. All the old anxieties and insecurities come roaring back - will I be able to do what I want - will it be any good, blah, blah, blah.

This painting is a little challenge painting dreamed up by my friend and teacher Polly Jackson. The subject's name is Trudy - don't have a clue who Trudy is, but she is a wonderful subject. I keep wanting to type Turdy - wonder if the cosmos is trying to tell me something!

The challenge Polly posed was to paint Trudy in any style you wanted to, and send her a photo so that she could post all of them on her student blog www.areyoupainting.blogspot.com. They should be posted sometime on Saturday. Check them out.

Painting in the Park with Polly Jackson

2009-04-26T07:20:00.000-07:00

These paintings were done in my painting class with Polly Jackson, the last (for a while) in the series of painting in the parks. It's getting way too hot to paint outside in the afternoon! The sweat runs in your eyes, you have to wear sunglasses to paint in, your paint dries in about 5 minutes on the pallet, and your point of view changes with the movement of the sun. Not withstanding all of the above, I still love it!

These magnificent live oaks are in Little Stacy Park in south Austin. Some trees just beg to be painted. It's no wonder that Austinites are so passionate about their trees.

2009-04-19T07:40:00.000-07:00

This painting is also from Bull Creek Park - a little slice of wild flowers, mesquite and china berry trees.

Wild Flower Meadow

2009-04-19T07:30:00.000-07:00

Another post from painting in the park - this one is at Bull Creek Park. I have lived in Austin all my life, and never knew this park existed. It is wide open with almost no one there. A few lucky dogs have the run of the park with their owners, and I'll definitely go back again.

This first painting is a panaramic view of the park from a gentle hill covered with wildflowers. I thought you might enjoy seeing what these scenes actually look like and how I translated them into paintings.

Pease Park Saturday

2009-04-05T09:29:00.000-07:00

I'm painting en plein aire (outside) for the first time with Polly Jackson, and I have to say I was intimidated at first by all the things around me. It's interesting to be able to hone in on something that catches your eye, and make a painting from it. So, okay, I'm hooked. I can't wait to go out again.

While I was painting on the trail, my neice Jori and boyfriend Woody trotted by -- they were participating in the Urban Race -- sort of like a scavenger race -- around Austin. They finished in the top 25, and qualified for the national version of the race held in New Orleans. Way to go Woodie and Jori! Wonderful day!

Little Jack Horner

2009-04-05T09:23:00.000-07:00

Sure glad Little Jack Horner didn't eat one of these plums -- he'd have halucinations for weeks. This is the last of my 8 x 8 posts for a while. This is an interesting size to work in, but I'm much more comfortable working in a larger format. Art is all about experimenting for me, that's what keeps it interesting -- so what if some of the experiments don't pan out. It was fun creating anyway!

Lemons

2009-03-25T08:50:00.000-07:00

Here's another 8x8 or some lemons I had. The challenge for me in these little paintings is to make each brush stroke count, and to get as much color variation into the subject as I can.

Spring Break

2009-03-25T08:45:00.000-07:00

Spring break was over too quickly. I had an unexpected week off from work, a "furlough" if you will, and it was wonderful. I needed the break. Painting was on the agenda, and I will be posting a series of 8x8's that are a lot of fun, and for those of you who know me, are really fast paints for me -- thirty minutes or so to complete one.

Apologies to Paul Balmer

2009-03-12T13:54:00.000-07:00

About four years ago, my daughter took her daughter to New York for her 8th birthday. Mimi (wonderful grandmother that I am) got to tag along on this fabulous trip. While we were there we went to galleries in Soho and saw some wonderful streeet artists, and -- Paul Balmer. I was immediately in love with his work. Enormous paintings of New York - buildings and bridges -- layers of color, line that made my heart sing.

I could not get his paintings out of my mind, so when we returned home, I went to my studio and began to create my version of Paul's New York. This is a rice paper painting done with about 20 layers of casein and ink. Not nearly as magnificent as his, but one of my favorites. Check out his web site at www.paulbalmer.com

2009-03-12T13:48:00.000-07:00

My latest painting is an attempt to find a brush that will paint the twigs in a winter landscape. Needless to say, I didn't have one in my assortment of brushes. Oh, well, off to Jerry's Artarama tomorrow, I guess. I could use some more canvas anyway. Interestingly enough, I found that a small flat worked best -- who knew.

Princess Dee Dee Boo

2009-03-06T12:48:00.000-08:00

Princess Dee Dee Boo is our other pug. A year younger than Spanky, and a good 20 lbs smaller, she is the boss of him and all things domestic. Born the runt of the litter, she never seemed to grow much. Her tongue doesn't fit in her mouth, and so it hangs out the side most of the time. I have to tell her everyday she is the cutest dog in the world.

2009-03-04T09:05:00.000-08:00

This is Spanky. A more loyal, regal dog never existed. He came to live with us about 3 1/2 years ago, and has totally taken over the household. He has become a bit on the lazy side lately, and as a result, has put on a few pounds. The Fed Ex guy once thought he was a pot bellied pig -- poor Spank, he just waddled over to him and gave him a kiss. I guess we could all learn something from Spanky.

My First Blog

2009-03-01T14:38:00.000-08:00

My first blog -- sort of a scary prospect don't you think? Anyway, I'm forging ahead and attempting to post some of my recent works of art. What do you think?