Dori DeCamillis

Disdain the Tillage of Thy Husbandry, 2013, 16" x 20" A couple of my paintings will be featured in this biennial exhibit:   Celebrating Contemporary Art in Alabama:  The Biennial Johnson Center for the Arts in Troy, AL Artists Reception on Sunday, Sept. 8, from 1 - 3pm  Link to Art Center Website Look Whom She Best Endowed, 2013, 16" x 20"

My empty nest agrees with me. I've taken morning hikes every day at Moss Rock Preserve, not far from  my house. It's easy to see how it got it's name.

Annabelle up early for freshman move-in day for University of Alabama, Birmingham. I was surprised that their extremely efficient system got us to the dorm and all boxes to her 7th floor room within 10 minutes. A great army of sorority and fraternity helpers swarmed our car and made off with the tower of stuff before we could make a move. I was kissing her goodbye before I knew what hit me. So far (Day 3 now) empty nest is a serene and splendid thing.

Annabelle's painting, "Warrior," was selected to hang in the U.S. Department of Education in Washington DC for the next year in an exhibit called ART.WRITE.NOW. The painting is of me. Annabelle says I'm a warrior princess, but I think I'm really an evil sorceress.

After our day trip to Granny's, Scott and I stayed in Steamboat and played with family. Sister Dana and I went for another hike, this time up the Sand Mountain Trail, just North of the town of Clark. That night Scott and I hung out at brother Derick's house for great food and lots of laughs. Derick's dog Titus. Playing in Mad Creek the next day. Dad is the tall one on the left, and the rest of the gang is Derick's family.  My toes and Mad Creek rocks. Dad and I went to church and then for a long ride out 20 mile road. I miss the Colorado clouds when I'm in Alabama. Scott hanging out. He said his hair was flat, so he wore his Saw's BBQ hat the whole trip. Scott fished 99% of the time. My step-mom Sunny, my mom, Karen, me, and my Dad, Fred. Sunny cooked a fine feast on Sunday.

During my trip to Colorado, Scott and I took a day to travel to Fort Collins to hang out with my 93 year old Granny. One of the most beautiful drives anywhere leads over Rabbit Ears Pass, through the high plains of North Park, over picturesque Cameron Pass, and through the windy Poudre Canyon. Between the their and back trips we saw a total of 11 moose. I'd never seen one before. The one above was seen right at the summit of Cameron Pass. Poudre Canyon is deep and rocky, with excellent fishing in the Poudre River which winds next to the road. I tried to take photos of the miles of rock walls, but the image above was the best I could come up with.  Last year a massive forest fire swept through the Poudre area, and even my granny was close to evacuating before the winds changed. The above shot shows a mountain of burned trees in the background. Another difficult-to-capture image. We tried to get through North Park on the way home before the sun set so we ...

Last week Scott and I went home to Steamboat to see family and enjoy a Colorado mountain get-away. I'll break up the report into a few posts because I took so many photos. This post features images from a morning hike I took with my sister, Dana on the first day in town. Scott fly-fished 100% of the time so he will be suspiciously absent from most of my posts. We hiked toward Crystal Peak, above. It was the second time we headed up this mountain but didn't reach the top. It's far, and on this particular hike we had no intention of going the distance. We picked at ate raspberries, serviceberries, and thimbleberries until we were stuffed. Our hands glowed red with berry juice as we lumbered through bear county, stepping over bear poop filled with berries.  And we saw plenty of bear territory marks on the trees. On our last hike up this trail we came upon a baby bear with no mommy in sight. We ran like hell. The view back down the valley. Most ...

Works in progress in the clay studio at Red Dot Gallery. Student artist Casey is glazing his holy pots. Students at work on the wheel. Clay tubes recently run through the pug mill, a sausage-grinder-like machine that reclaims used clay. Kristin and John practicing drawing composition in my Wednesday night class.