Dori DeCamillis

A recent painting from my "See Right Through Me" series which depicts my various mind states.  "And That Fresh Blood" 16" x 20" Oil on Board

A couple of weeks ago I went to Trappist, Kentucky for a four day silent retreat at  Thomas Merton's Gethsemane Abbey. People come from all over the world to visit. www.monks.org On the way, my husband and I visited Daylily World the daylily gardens of David Kirchhoff and Mort Morss. They are among America's preeminent hybridizers, and their gardens and home are out of a storybook. For 43 years they have been coming up with some of the world's most dazzling hybrids.  On the retreat I spent my days taking walks though the gorgeous Abbey grounds, having some luxurious time to myself, and appreciating the atmosphere created by over 150 years of monks at prayer. The grounds had farm fields, surprisingly steep forested "knobs," and lakes. I liked the way the light streamed in to my room one late afternoon. I have time to appreciate this kind of stuff when I'm not cramming my day with activity. The architecture o...

The Reality Show opens right now at Red Dot. Paintings by Jeanne Alexander and Beverley Phillips.

This is the invite for "Reality Show," exhibiting the work of Jeanne Alexander and Beverley Phillips at Red Dot Gallery for the next month. The artist reception is held this Friday, July 20, from 5 to 8 pm. Jeanne and Beverley have been oil painting students at Ret Dot Gallery for years, and their talent and skill is obvious and inspiring to everyone here. 

My husband, Scott Bennett, the daylily hybridizer, tags each bloom as he pollinates it. After bloom season, we have a field of seed pods on sticks with Minnie Pearl tags dangling in the wind. Each tag corresponds with the parents of the flower, and is recorded in Scott's stud book, which looks like an autistic person's mad scrawling.  When I get my hands on it, I will post images of his stud book, which will come across as one of the best works of art I've seen in a while.