Dori DeCamillis

This post is an update of the past weeks. At home and work I've been busy, so here's a short photo recap of my goings on. My mom will appreciate it. The photo from above was taken on a silent retreat at Sacred Heart Monastery in Cullman, Alabama. I had our invasive forest ripped out and laid a whole lot of sod. After 10 years of fighting nasty vines and bushes, we are happy to see our large property. I donated a painting to the Alabama Folk School at Camp McDowell. Lovely Maggie Johnston (of Camp McDowell) and Janice Barrett (of Wild South) modeled with me. It's always nice to hang out with other tall girls. Scott and I spent a lazy day on Clear Creek in the Bankhead Forest at Camp McDowell picnicking with friends and fishing I got a new guitar and this is the case. The guitar is even prettier. We hosted Halcyon, the solo show for Mary Compton at Red Dot Gallery. Mary's family came from Baltimore...

I couldn't help taking photos of the murals and standing art around Camp McDowell during my recent guitar workshop weekend. Nothing more to say except it looks like fun, and I know the kids that did it will never forget working on such big and bold art work.

This past weekend I took a guitar workshop with the incredible Herb Trotman at the Alabama Folk School in Nauvoo, Alabama. I came away with sore fingers, loads of fun memories, and enough guitar theory and things to practice to last until next year. I also hiked, watched a metal pour, and got to see the mosaic student's completed work.   This fellow sat outside my door all day Saturday. An old chair on a porch. A bee on a flower. Looking up at Big Leaf Magnolias.  The metal pour. Right after the aluminum is poured into the molds. The metal student's work. Some of the mosaic student's work. Close-up of mosaic student's work.

My wolf painting came about in an unusual way. I never intended for it to be a collaboration or a commission, in fact I don’t normally go in for either, but this piece wanted to come into being in its own fashion. I am a regular attendee at the Alabama Folk School (AFS) near Jasper, Alabama. It is held at Camp McDowell, a summer-camp-like retreat well known by most who’ve grown up in Alabama. Tucked in one of the most beautiful areas of the Bankhead National Forest the Folk School hosts weekend workshops several times a year, with classes in various types of music on the rustic end of the spectrum, and visual arts of all kinds. I am sometimes a visiting artist there, which means I paint as I please while workshop attendees are free to observe me working and ask questions. One day while I painted (a moose in a business suit hanging out in Red Square, Moscow) a friendly fellow I’d recently met sat down to watch me work. He asked intelligent questions about my intentions an...

I had a fantastic weekend at Camp McDowell at the Alabama Folk School for OLD TIME MUSIC & CRAFTS WEEK October 31 - November 3, 2013 The four day workshop included music and art classes by world-class instructors. Only a few of the classes and their teachers represented here.  Above: Doug Baulos teaches a book binding and decorative papers class. I was amazed at how many highly professional projects they completed. These are the woods through which you walk to class. Pretty much paradise. You can hear banjos and fiddles echoing through the woods from the various classes. Eric Thompson of Berkeley, CA taught beginning Mandolin. See his bio below. Suzy Thompson of Berkeley taught intermediate fiddle.  Part of bio from Eric and Susie's website : These virtuoso roots musicians specialize in the down-home sounds of the American South. Their musical palette includes Appalachian story-songs and bluegrass breakdowns, classi...

I spent the past weekend being an artist in residence at the Alabama Folk School at Camp McDowell near Jasper, AL. The above shot is from one of my hikes on the property, into a deep and mossy canyon. Camp McDowell is situated in the Bankhead National Forest, one of my favorite hiking destinations, and, honestly, one of the most beautiful forests in the world. As an artist in residence, my job was to paint all day. This was my station, and looked out a large window over the forest. Heaven! An afternoon hike in the forest led to this amazing overhang. Clear Creek in the morning. An evening concert by some of the music instructors. This weekend the focus was on acoustic guitar. The outdoor shop where one of the instructors taught blacksmithing. I'm on the board of the folk school, and we had an annual meeting after the weekend workshops ended. It's the only board meeting where members sit in rocking chairs on a porch and coon hou...