Dori DeCamillis

41” x 48” In 2006 I was commissioned to paint a historically accurate painting of a Creek Indian village. In researching the subject I found that much of Creek cultural artifacts have been lost, due to the shameful Trail of Tears. With a lot of help from Miriam Fowler (who put together the life-size Creek village at the Birmingham Museum of Art) I gathered the information I needed and found images of Creek patterns in rather obscure places. I delivered the painting nine months after the piece was commissioned, and felt like I lived in the little village I’d painted. Because of my familiarity with the Creek culture, it was a natural choice of subject for one of my depictions of Alabama places. I knew immediately that my portrayal would include the Creeks’ wonderful patterns, which I only got to use on a small scale in the village painting. I chose Horseshoe Bend as the place to represent the Creek culture because it is the most accessible site designated to observance of Creek cu...

Join Red Dot Gallery Friday, June 4 for the opening of The Flower Show, 5-9 pm. Amazing works of art and nature celebrating the radiance of bloom. Flower bedecked cupcakes from our favorite bakery, Dreamcakes. Explosive flower arrangements by Rene Sears. Real daylilies from national hybridizer Scott Bennett. Flower inspired art by: Frank Fleming, Annie Kammerer Butrus, Cam Langley, Janice Kluge, Jon Martinez, Bethanne Hill, Beth Maynor Young, John Wathen, Mary Kay Culpepper, Dori DeCamillis, Scott Bennett, Vincent Serbin, Laura Brookhart, Guadelupe Robinson, Lynette Hesser Here are some images of work by exhibiting artists. Laura Brookhart (above) Digital Photographs Annie Kammerer Butrus Paintings Vincent Serbin Photography

Now owned by the Nature Conservancy, the Splinter Hill Bog Preserve is home to some of the largest and most beautiful pitcher plant bogs in the world. The site is located in the headwaters of the Perdido River, in the low hills of the East Gulf Coastal Plain in South Alabama. Not your ordinary wildflower meadow, the open fields blanketed with white, red and green pitcher plants also host a dozen other carnivorous plant species. To survive in the low nutrient soil, some of the plants must resort to eating insects. The pitcher plant is large enough that the skeletons of small frogs and birds have even been found inside its trumpet-like leaves. Other meat-eating plants are covered with gooey dew-like drops to which insects stick and are digested. Many unusual and rare plants grow in the bog, and along with more common varieties, can add up to 60 species in one square yard. In order for this weird and exotic landscape to thrive, it must be set on fire at about the same frequency that...

On Friday I went to a talk given by E.O. Wilson. Here is some info about this kind, humble, wise, and brilliant man: E.O. Wilson, recently called “one of the most important biological theorists since Darwin” by The New York Times, returns to Alabama for a special evening at McWane Science Center on Friday, May 7, 2010. Born in Birmingham, Wilson felt a fascination with nature from a young age and grew up to become one of the world’s leading environmentalists, as proclaimed by Time Magazine and Audubon Magazine, in addition to winning two Pulitzer Prizes and numerous other awards, he was also called one of the “Top 25 most influential Americans” by Time Magazine. Here are some quotes by EO Wilson: There is no better high than discovery. You are capable of more than you know. Choose a goal that seems right for you and strive to be the best, however hard the path. Aim high. Behave honorably. Prepare to be alone at times, and to endure failure. Persist! The world needs all you can give. We...

Dear Mom, Here is a list of 66 things you taught me that I am grateful for. You taught me… Not to be afraid of strangers To be on time To color really well with my crayons To be open-minded about religion To keep my house tidy Not to worry too much about germs To eat lots of different kinds of foods To be honest and straightforward Not to be stingy To be appreciative when someone does something for me To love the outdoors To love sports and exercise To love animals To be curious To love music To love art To eat my veggies That if I wanted a friend I had to be a friend Not to wash my hair too much Not to waste To be resourceful To be adventurous To be a good and funny story teller To laugh at myself To bravely look at my shortcomings Not to overprotect children That a little healthy irreverence is a good thing That beauty is only skin deep To be a fun, outrageous, and not your average run-of-the-mill mom To use my tale...

Dauphin Island, a 14 mile-long barrier island just west of Mobile Bay, has been sited as one of the ten most globally important sites for bird migrations. One of the featured attractions of the Alabama Coastal Birding Trail, Dauphin Island Bird Sanctuary includes 164 acres with the widest possible range of habitats on the island: a fresh water lake, Gulf beaches and dunes, swamp, maritime forest, and hardwood clearings. Bird watchers come to Dauphin Island from all over the United States and abroad to view the spring and fall bird migrations. The island is the first landfall for many of the neo-tropical migrant birds after their long flight across the Gulf from Central and South America each spring. Here these birds, often exhausted and weakened from severe weather during the long flight, find their first food and shelter. It is also their final feeding and resting place before their return flight each fall. The name “Fall-out” is a term coined to describe the phenomenon that occu...