Dori DeCamillis

I gave a talk about my artwork at Indian Springs High School yesterday, and I passed around my camera for each student to take a photo of the experience. I knew it would produce some good images. 

Daughter Annabelle looking at herself on the computer to draw herself looking at her computer. We've been lucky enough this spring break to have a little time to make art together in the studio.

For years my daughter, Annabelle, has been dressing up as her favorite characters from Japanese animation and web comics. The term for this pastime is Cosplay . I've posted some of her greatest hits. Here is a link to the a more complete collection, on Annabelle's Tumblr site . Her friend, Miranda Bates is her usual companion for photo shoots, Cons (conventions) and costume making.  The characters with orange horns are from the web comic, Homestuck . Don't ask me the names of all the characters.  I felt a little sleazy doing the photo shoot above, but she said this exemplified the personality of her character.  The things moms do.

Painting professor Gary Chapman at UAB assigns a challenging (and therefore dreaded) still-life project to young painting students. This is Annabelle's finished painting of the subject. College is agreeing with her. Aside from straight As last semester, she loves living in the dorms, staying up late, and getting to make art much of the time.

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.

"Waln" 12" x 16" Oil on Board Annabelle's Senior Show Presentation at Spain Park High School, tomorrow night, 6:15 in the Media Center. She'll do a slide presentation since all her work is exhibited elsewhere. Open to the public. (This painting done when she was 15.)

Here ye, here ye. My smart kid, Annabelle DeCamillis is graduating from Spain Park High School Commencement Ceremony to held  Wednesday, May 22, 2013 5:00 pm Samford University's Pete Hanna Center Samford Maps  for more info email dori@reddotgallery.com

For the inaugural exhibit of the newly remodeled Hoover City Hall, Annabelle DeCamillis will have a solo show of her work, and a ceremony where she will be recognized by Mayor Gary Ivey. Next Monday, April 1 @ 5pm. She is just finishing this piece. 

Annabelle's Predator Zone Mural was installed last week, just in time for spring break. She was commissioned by the Birmingham Zoo a few months ago. The image is of a male lion, and the full piece measures 10.5' x 10'. When I can get to the zoo to see it installed, I'll post better photos. 

My daughter, Annabelle, has been selected as one of 150 national finalists in the YoungArts competition. From Wikipedia, here is some info on the prestigious contest. YoungArts  is a  talent -based  scholarship  program which honors and awards  high school  and  college  students, mostly  American , for their prowess in the  performing ,  visual  and  literary arts . The program is considered by many to be the most prestigious arts competition for young adults; it is also the exclusive nominating organization for the  Presidential Scholars of the Arts . The foundation is headquartered in  Miami , Florida . Awards Students chosen as National Finalists are invited to attend YoungArts Week in  Miami ,  Florida , all expenses paid, usually during the second week of January. YoungArts Week provides the Finalists with a series of master classes, showcase performances, exhibitions, readings,...

Taken at the Red Dot Student Show opening. This pretty much sums up our family.

2012, Oil on Canvas, 34" x 40" My 17 year old daughter, Annabelle, just sold another painting from her portrait series. "The Duke of Birmingham" depicts our lawyer/farmer friend, Andy Laplante, dressed in Elizabethan duds, sitting on his porch with his dogs. Annabelle is currently getting her college applications ready, and is planning on applying to School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Rhode Island School of Design, Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, University of Alabama, Birmingham, and Montevallo University. 

Annabelle DeCamillis, my daughter, has been practicing belly dancing for almost two years and has posted a couple videos of her dancing on Youtube. The first was filmed in Ann Arbor, MI in an alley plastered with graffiti. Graffiti Belly Dance The second is a creative interpretation of one of her favorite web cartoons, Homestuck . My middle-age explanation of what Homestuck is about would be blasted by young fans, so just watch the video and enjoy.  Homestuck Belly Dance

This summer my 17 year-old kid, Annabelle, had a summer job drawing chalkboard art for a soon-to-open restaurant in Birmingham. She used pastels to do 9 large pieces that hang throughout the restaurant. Creekside Tavern, a family-type restaurant opens this Wednesday. The subject matter was mostly chosen by the restaurant owners, Margee and Blake Sly. They preferred scenes of people doing everyday things, and many are from photos taken around the shopping center where their restaurant is located.  The plan is to erase the pieces and recreate them for the change of seasons. For a teenager the project was an amazing experience, both for making art-for-hire and having a summer job in her field. The work is done with high-quality soft pastels on black chalkboard. 

My 17 year old kid, Annabelle, is featured in Over the Mountain Journal for her Best in Show win in the annual I Love Homewood Sidewalk Chalk festival.  Link to OTMJ

This Sunday is Earth Day, and The Nature Conservancy is celebrating with Picnic for the Planet. I was commissioned to paint a picnic table for our Birmingham picnic (in Railroad Park.) People will be picnicking around the globe with the Nature Conservancy, trying to break a world record for the Guinness book. The Birmingham Zoo asked me to represent their organization at the event, and this is the table I painted with generous help from my talented teenage daughter, Annabelle. It is painted with house paint and oils. 

I took these photos for my lecture at Mobile Museum of Art, Sunday, July 10, 1:30 pm. One of my paintings of Alabama favorite places is inspired by Jones Valley Urban Farm. My daughter, Annabelle, is peeling onions in the greenhouse: below. JVUF, located in downtown Birmingham, has small garden plots for locals, sells produce at local Farmer's Markets, and educates about sustainable, organic farming.

My daughter, Annabelle, was the winner of the Most Creative Award at the I Love Homewood Day Sidewalk Chalk Festival last weekend.

My daughter, Annabelle, and I had the post-Thanksgiving lazy syndrome today, so although it was beautiful outside (see above) we opted to lay on the floor in the kitchen and stare, play a few games of Yahtzee, and eat leftovers. The highlight of the day came when I decided to educate her via Youtube about some of the most famous dancers of all time. Fred and Ginger were her favorites, but Gregory Hines and Baryshnikov were close seconds. Sammy Davis, Jr. fared well, too. I didn't mean for the lesson to get us off our butts, but after we closed up the laptop, we spontaneously leapt (literally) into a ballet/tap/nut-job dance contest throughout the house. We tried to break the world record for ballet spins, or pirouettes (which, we found on Youtube, is officially 35) and after some strenuous and dizzying practice, got up to a grand total of 1 (one). We worked on our do-si-do, our arabesque, and our just-push-each-other-around moves, but found the most fun to be the flying leaps. With...

My teenage daughter goes to Alabama School of Fine Arts, a very competitive magnate school in Birmingham. All the students are hand-picked gifted children with very artsy leanings, and I sometimes worry that her exposure to different types of people is way too limited. An opportunity came up in which a certain boy from a local "regular" public school wanted to ask her to the homecoming dance. I informed her of this fact, and even though she likes the boy, she replied, "Well, I don't know." Keep in mind that ASFA dances are notoriously wild and crazy. There is a high population of gay and lesbian students so everyone dances with everyone. The place resembles a crazy free-for-all with loud outrageous music, strobe lights and disco balls, kids in wacky get-ups, and teachers hiding and cringing in the corners. Annabelle explained her reluctance to go to the "normal" dance. "Mom! At those dances if you get too close to your dance partner the teacher r...