Dori DeCamillis

Elk River Valley I drove around taking snaps on  quick trip home to Steamboat Springs to see family for Memorial Day. My student's need some landscape images to work from. Good thing I grew up in Paradise. Elk River Gore Range near Silverthorne Borden Pond with Sleeping Giant  Storm Mountain from Fish Creek Meadows Flattops Wilderness and Lake Catamount from Rabbit Ears Pass Old Truax barn on Elk River Road Sleeping Giant Flattops from near Sleeping Giant Storm Mountain from Sleeping Giant Wolcott Reservoir  Ranch in Elk River Valley Mesas in Kremmling, CO

Here are some photos from my recent trip to Steamboat, my hometown. I had fun with family, did some stellar hiking, went to the rodeo, and ate a lot. Scott fished and fished and fished. 

Don't forget to enjoy the posts on Without a Net, my blog that explains in detail the meaning of each of my paintings. Today's post is about this ermine painting, "For Thy Sweet Love Remembered." (My titles come from Shakespeare's sonnets.)

Our holidays were spent with Dori's family in Steamboat Springs, Colorado. While most of the family skied, Scott fished for trout. It was hard to take a bad photo.

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 ...

I’m currently working on two new books that are quite different from my last two, but some of my readers will recognize a thread that connects them all. My first books, “ The Freeway ” and “ My Steamboat ” are memoirs from my younger years. Basically, I had some crazy, funny stories I needed to get on paper before I forgot them, and they hopefully made for an entertaining read. My new books are both about my art. The first one is a picture book (with minimal text) about “Exhibit A,” a series of paintings I created from 2006 to 2011. The project, partially funded by an Alabama Council on the Arts fellowship, highlighted places in my adopted home state. (The A in Exhibit A is for Alabama, if you haven’t figured it out.) I traveled around the state gathering images and information that inspired 12 intricate panels that incorporate oil painting and inlaid ceramic tile. The series was labor-intensive but very satisfying, and I’m happy to finally have the images ...

I'll be giving a talk and reading about my book next Tuesday, 11:00 at Jefferson State College, AL April 16, 11AM-Noon, Room AL 111 (Allen Library)  at Carson Road Campus,  2601 Carson Rd.  More info (205) 983-5911