798 Marwa

Marwa is an outgoing seven year old Syrian refugee who has lived in one of Lebanon's tent camps since she was two years old.  She and her family left their home in Homs, Syria after it was heavily shelled.  She doesn't remember much of her early life.  Marwa has become an "ambassador" or sorts to visitors, particularly to the ANERA (American Near East Refugee Aid) folks who bring supplies to her camp.  She goes to school near the camp, and readily admits she isn't fond of school, however she plans to be a teacher one day.  When asked to draw a  house, she replied, "I cannot draw a house.  I will draw a tent instead.  I don't know what a house looks like."

"Marwa" is the fifth refugee child in my "Innocents Project" series.  She is the first and only child whose name I know so far.  It is important to me to see these children as real people with names, not just falling under a heading called "refugees."  I get an idea of what this spunky little girl is like from other photos showing a gap in her big bright smile where two bottom teeth used to be.  She is seen carrying her little brother, and has boasted that she does better in school than her siblings.  How typical for a seven year old, yet her life is far from typical or normal.

ANERA works to improve the lives of all of the refugees, but particularly for the children.  Please consider a donation to anera.org in honor of a special mother, or "just because" and please mention The Innocents Project.

Happy Mother's Day to all of you!

"798 Marwa"
acrylic - 12x12 in

http://www.dailypaintworks.com/fineart/diane-campion/798-marwa/477195

dianecampion.blogspot.com

796 Keyless Entry

796 Shy

This is the fourth portrait in my series called "The Innocents Project" in which I am painting the refugee children living in camps in Lebanon and Palestine.  I am hoping to raise awareness and money for the children through ANERA (American Near East Refugee Aid) in Washington, D.C.

There is no "normal" for a kid living in a refuge camp.  Most people don't realize that it gets quite cold in the Middle East during the winter, and heat is unlikely in the camps, and often in homes.  ANERA has distributed over 100,000 pairs of shoes and boots to keep the children safe and warm in Lebanon's refugee camps and in Gaza.  Tom's has been very generous in donating the shoes and boots for the children, who otherwise might be barefoot.  According to ANERA's recent newsletter, they have also distributed millions of dollars worth of vital medicines and supplies to clinics and hospitals in Lebanon and Palestine during the past year, 20,000 relief kits (school supplies, blankets, quilts, hygiene supplies, and clothing) in Lebanon, and as mentioned previously, 12,200 parasite treatment kits to prevent lice in the overcrowded camps in Lebanon.

Aside from all of the physical abnormalities of living in a refugee camp, imagine the psychological affects of living in a refugee camp where children see death from illness, violence or electricution all too often.  There may not be places for them to play, or clean water to drink.

Please consider a donation to ANERA   www.anera.org   and please mention "The Innocents Project."

"796 Shy"
acrylic - 12x12 in

http://www.dailypaintworks.com/fineart/diane-campion/796-shy/475823

dianecampion.blogspot.com

Jumping Through Hoops

I like to paint what I see.  To paint an abstract, you must be able to "see" beyond what you see.  In this case, I didn't see anything.  I just needed a gigantic painting to fill a wall in my living room and I needed it to coordinate with certain colors.  I am not kidding you when I say that this is the FIFTH painting on this canvas. The previous four were bombs.  Imagine how much paint it takes to cover a 48 x 48" canvas FIVE times.

I suspect that most people (non-artists) think that you just slap a bunch of paint on a canvas and call it an abstract, and indeed, many people do paint that way.  But the truth of the matter is that learning to paint abstracts is far more difficult than any other genre.  The same elements and principles of design still hold for abstracts: line, shape, form, color, space, unity, similarity, contrast, balance, scale, etc., etc.  and it's extremely difficult to achieve success.

I named this "Jumping Through Hoops" because I put so much research into this before and during painting.  I studied Hans Hoffmann and Gerhard Richter and Mark Rothko paintings for hours, hoping and praying for the push and pull gift needed to pull it off.  I'm not sure I quite achieved that, but the painting does look nice in room it was painted for, so I am happy (to be finished with it).  whew.

"Jumping Through Hoops"
acrylic - 48x48 in

http://www.dailypaintworks.com/fineart/diane-campion/jumping-through-hoops/475232

dianecampion.blogspot.com

795 Hopeful

This beautiful little girl lives at the Ein El Helweh Camp and attends kindergarten with the young girl in my previously posted painting, "793 Not Forgotten."  ANERA (American Near East Refugee Aid) recently renovated the preschool at the camp and is focusing on providing a safe and intellectually stimulating place for these young children so they can find some sense of normalcy in an unstable and sometimes violent area.

To read more about ANERA and their commitment to refugees in Lebanon and Palestine, please visit their web site"  http://anera.org/  and please consider making a donation to "The Innocents Project." Not only do they help with the physical rebuilding/remodeling of schools, but they provide medical supplies, education, distribution of warm clothes and blankets, etc to those in need.

"795 Hopeful"
acrylic - 12x12 in
http://www.dailypaintworks.com/fineart/diane-campion/795-hopeful/474261

dianecampion.blogspot.com

Uninsured

I saw this clunker in Taos, New Mexico while I wandered during a break from plein air painting.  If you could see the front of the truck, you would see that the engine is missing, also quite humorous. I love to paint textures/rust/patina, and so I felt like I had hit the jackpot, knowing someday I would paint it. 

"Uninsured"
acrylic - 30x40 in

http://www.dailypaintworks.com/fineart/diane-campion/uninsured/473195

dianecampion.blogspot.com

794 Purple Pineapple

This is a birthday gift for my neighbor friend, who will gift it to someone who loves pineapples and the color purple.  She photographed the pineapple in Costa Rica and was so excited that she could satisfy both desires.  I never accepted the challenge in the past, but am glad I did this time.

Not sure what it is about pineapples, but the other day I came across two other pineapple paintings.
Maybe it's a new trend and I'm just out of the loop.  A warm beach and a pina colada would satisfy me right about now.

"794 Purple Pineapple"
acrylic - 8x10 in

http://www.dailypaintworks.com/fineart/diane-campion/794-purple-pineapple/472335

dianecampion.blogspot.com

794 Attention Getter

 

I have so much to report today.  But first, I'd like to tell you about this painting.

As you may know, I am hoping to raise awareness (and money!) for the beautiful children who are so deserving of a better life than what they have as refugees in Lebanon and Palestine.  With the generous assistance of ANERA (American Near East Refugee Assistance) in Washington, DC, I am able to paint the portraits of some of the children in what I am calling "The Innocents Project."  This young man captured my heart with his smile and spunk, as he made his way into several of their photos.  In this case, he is smiling because he has received a gift.  Unlike most gifts children his age would receive----- a new Star Wars toy or sporting good, it is a supply of lice kits for the people in his tent camp in Bekaa in eastern Lebanon.

I would like to refer you to an article that really touched me, written by Niki Erickson,  ANERA's manager of operations in Washington on December 30, 2015 entitled "Syrian Refugees:  The Children Deserve Better."  http://www.anera.org/stories/syrian-refugees-the-children-deserve-better/
I had not read this article until today as I was preparing to write this message, but it is very timely that I did.

In her article, Ms. Erickson wrote that as she arrived at this refugee camp, the children swarmed around her, all wanting to hold her hand.  One little boy "with several fresh scars and a smile on his face was tossing rocks at my back.  It wasn't out of anger or hatred, but rather out of desperation to be noticed."  I am going to take a guess that this painting is of that young boy.  As I look closely at his photo,  I DO see scars.  I am pretty sure the scars on the outside are nothing compared to the experiences of being a child living in a refugee camp.

In other news, it has been three years today since I painted my first painting for Daily Paintworks.  On my first day, deciding what to paint, painting it, naming it,  photographing it, posting to the blog, then to Daily Paintworks took me literally from morning till night.  I remember thinking, "this has to get better."  Indeed it did.  I learned to do all of the above much faster.  In those three years, I have painted almost 800 daily paintings in addition to many large paintings.  It's not 1096 like some Daily Painters who never miss a day, but I am very proud of it.  I painted nearly every day during those three years, perhaps not finishing a small painting, but working on a larger painting.  It has been a joy.

I have cut down on the small paintings and I have decided my time is better spent painting large(r).  Many of those small paintings became studies for large paintings or to find my "voice," style, favorite color palette or technique.

As I have said repeatedly, technology is either your best friend or your worst enemy.  I recently learned the hard way that my Mac-created web site went kaput with the installation of my Mac's updated operating system, El Capitan.   I must now rebuild.  Ugh.  (Enter procrastination)

So to all of you who have taken the time to comment on my paintings or to share my blog or Facebook page, and certainly to those who have purchased a little piece of "me" via my work, I sincerely thank you for your kindness.  I love this "job" and hardly call it work. 

"794 Attention Getter"
acrylic - 12x12 in
http://www.dailypaintworks.com/fineart/diane-campion/794-attention-getter/471428

dianecampion.blogspot.com

Patent Pending

Kibbey Couse was the son of E. Irving Couse, one of the founding members of the Taos Society of Artists.  Kibbey was always interested in creating things, and eventually became an engineer and inventor.  He invented a mobile machine shop, which could be trailored from site to site to work on heavy equipment and tanks, and later for the U. S. Military.  When his mother died, he moved his family to Taos and set up shop in his parents' garage.  At this time, the E. Irving Couse House is exactly the same as it was in the 1930's.  I took the photo reference for this painting when we Art Ladies toured this historic site last year.  I knew someday it would be a painting, but never expected to be compelled to paint it so soon. 

"Patent Pending"
acrylic - 30x40 in

http://www.dailypaintworks.com/fineart/diane-campion/patent-pending/470677

dianecampion.blogspot.com

793 Not Forgotten

This little girl haunts me.  Hers is the first portrait in my series, The Innocents Project.  The blue flower on her paper hat is heavily glittered, but even that doesn't seem to make her smile, nor does having her picture taken.  I don't know her name, but I know that she lives in one of Lebanon's refuge camps,  Bourj El Chemall.  This particular camp was established in 1948 and is still in existence.  I do not know how dependable Wikipedia's estimate of 20,000 registered refugees is, but it is far and sadly too many.  She and thousands of others like her are being assisted by a partnership with ANERA (American Near East Refugee Assistance) and UMCOR (United Methodist Committee on Relief), who are renovating preschools to provide early childhood education and emergency responses for the refugees from Syria. ANERA also assists in many other ways, including providing medical supplies and warm clothing to the refugees. 

For more information about ANERA and the good work they provide, please visit their web site:
www.ANERA.org.

"793 Not Forgotten"
acrylic - 12x12 in

http://www.dailypaintworks.com/fineart/diane-campion/793-not-forgotten/470011
dianecampion.blogspot.com

792 Art in Bloom

Because I renewed our Milwaukee Art Museum membership at Art in Bloom, I received a complementary bouquet of flowers, which was a pleasant surprise.  As you've probably guessed, I love to paint food and flowers, because to me, they represent the simple essence of home and life.  You may have seen my black and white Mackenzie Childs platter in some of my other paintings, and perhaps you remember that I won it in a charity luncheon raffle. For this painting, I couldn't figure out how to incorporate the platter.......  then, AHA, I remembered that napkins came with that wonderful "Black and White" raffle prize, and HA! one problem was solved.

Do you know that tulips grow after they have been cut?  The tulips in this little arrangement grew 2-3 inches overnight, which really messed with me on the second day of painting.  I loved the way the tulips danced on Day One, but they wouldn't have fit on the canvas had I started on Day Two.

"792 Art in Bloom"
acrylic - 16x20 in

http://www.dailypaintworks.com/fineart/diane-campion/792-art-in-bloom/467482

dianecampion.blogspot.com

791 Nap Time

Eh.
I felt like doing something a little different so I employed my favorite palette knives for this scene from Hollywood Beach, Florida on a cool Sunday afternoon.  The photo reference is very tranquil, much better than the painting.   Not every painting is a winner, I humbly admit.

BUT speaking of winners,  and to make up for the crappy painting, I am SO proud to share that my garden club won the People's Choice Award for their floral interpretation of Gerhard Richter's painting "Breath" at the Milwaukee Art Museum's Art in Bloom.  It is mostly florists and grocery store floral departments who participate in this spectacular event.  We may be the only club, and most definitely have the most limited budget.  Here is our entry.  I will share some of my other favorites below it. 

This next piece is one of my favorite paintings at the museum, "Betalo Nude" by Robert Henri, with such a soft and luscious color palette.  The Milwaukee Flower Company's Sally Vander Wyst and Courtney Stenberg created the floral masterpiece, which includes a handmade custom container for this gorgeous arrangement.  I was very disappointed that this creation did not win an award.  I think it should have.

This next piece won First Place in the judging and it was indeed spectacular.  The floral designer pieced three pieces of driftwood together for the base.  She had never seen Clara Driscoll's Tiffany lamp "Laburnum" in person, rather composing this arrangement from a photo.  Amazing.

This next painting is also a favorite of mine, "St Francis of Assisi in the Tomb" by Francisco de Zurbaran.  The floral artist assembled the piece at the museum using all dried materials except for the only living part, a few flowers.  The first photo is of the back of the arrangement, which was very interesting, I thought.  He won Third Place in the judging.

Second Place judges' award went to The Flower Source for their interpretation of Thomas Moran's "Three Mile Harbor, Long Island."  Our garden club often partners with The Flower Source, so it was nice to see them win this award for their interesting and beautiful interpretation.

Although there are so very many art pieces at the museum that I love, my consistent all time favorite piece at the Milwaukee Art Museum is "The Wood Gatherer" by Jules Bastien -Lepage.  I love everything about it!

If you have never visited the Milwaukee Art Museum, I hope you will someday.  It is a world class museum with a very rich collection and is located on the bank of the powerful and beautiful Lake Michigan as its backdrop.

If you would like to see more, you can visit the Museum's Art in Bloom page:  http://mam.org/bloom/


"791 Nap Time"
oil on canvas - 11x14 in

http://www.dailypaintworks.com/fineart/diane-campion/791-nap-time/467017

dianecampion.blogspot.com

790 Mazie

Mazie is one of several "Teddy Bears" in our neighborhood, all from the same breeder, including my own pooch, Oliver,  and Rodeo (Oliver's half brother), Chester, Henry and Mazie.  I have painted all of them except Henry and you can see them all somewhere in my daily paintings.  Teddy Bears are great dogs, and are a mix of toy poodle, bichon and shi tzu.  I happen to have a naughty barker, but we still love him. 

It's amazing to me how devoted our pets are to us, and we to them.  They comfort us when we need it, and seem to know when we need it most.  I often think that if all the children of the world received as much love and attention as our pets, the world would be a much better place.  Do you agree?

"790 Mazie"
acrylic - 8x8 in

http://www.dailypaintworks.com/fineart/diane-campion/790-mazie/466135

dianecampion.blogspot.com

789 Pretty As a Picture

When you go to a restaurant and the server presents you with your food and it is so beautifully arranged as a piece of artwork, what do you say?  I say, "It's pretty as a picture!" or "Too pretty to eat!"  This painting and "787 Still Sunny" really look so nice together.  I'm happy I took the risk and painted it."

Speaking of risks, yesterday's painting "788 But Tell Me, Where Will the Children Play"  received so many wonderful and compassionate comments via Facebook and private email.  I am very happy.  My intent is to raise awareness of the plight of the refugees in Lebanon and Palestine.   Art is supposed to start a dialogue, and I am happy that this painting gave me an opportunity to do just that.
And big thanks to those who commented.

"789 Pretty As a Picture"
acrylic - 12x12 in

http://www.dailypaintworks.com/fineart/diane-campion/789-pretty-as-a-picture/465880

dianecampion.blogspot.com

788 But Tell Me, Where Do the Children Play?

This is the first painting of my new endeavor, called The Innocents Project, in which I will paint the innocent children caught up in the tragedy that is the Middle East.  My intention is to raise awareness and funds for the benefit of the children.  This is the Ein El'Hilwen Refugee Camp in Lebanon, southeast of Saida.  It "houses" 120,000 people.  I am working directly with ANERA, American Near East Refugee Aid, on this project and thank them for allowing me to use their photos as references.  They do great work in the Middle East, supplying humanitarian aid to Palestinians and other communities in Lebanon and Gaza.  More details about this project will emerge in the days/weeks/months ahead.  www.anera.org.   

"788 But Tell Me, Where Do the Children Play?"
acrylic - 12x24 in

http://www.dailypaintworks.com/fineart/diane-campion/788-but-tell-me-where-do-the-children-play/465724


dianecampion.blogspot.com

Mission

American Near East Refugee Aid (ANERA) addresses the development and humanitarian needs of Palestinians and other communities in Palestine and Lebanon.
Through partnerships and close consultation with local groups and communities, ANERA responds to needs with sustainable solutions and also delivers aid during emergencies.

- See more at: http://www.anera.org/about-us/mission/#sthash.JHLJ9hcc.dpuf

"So Happy Together"

I know I'm showing my age, but do you know who sang this song and what year it was a hit?

"So Happy Together"
oil - 24x24 in

http://www.dailypaintworks.com/fineart/diane-campion/so-happy-together/465279
dianecampion.blogspot.com

787 Still Sunny

Sunflowers are universally loved, I think.  There are so many interesting varieties
that everyone should be happy.  Sunflowers remind me of two special friends who love the cheery flower, one of them being from Kansas, where sunflower is the state flower.

Sunflowers also remind me of Van Gogh's iconic paintings.  This past weekend, I visited the Art Institute of Chicago and the "Van Gogh's Bedrooms" exhibit, where a life-sized mock-up of his bedroom in his yellow house was featured.  It was wonderful and I'm happy I had the opportunity to see it. 

"787 Still Sunny"
acrylic - 12x12 in

http://www.dailypaintworks.com/fineart/diane-campion/787-still-sunny/464141
dianecampion.blogspot.com

1959 Chevy Impala at the Wigwam Hotel

This painting of a vintage car at the Wigwan Hotel on Route 66 is headed to its new home on Monday. Credit goes to my cousin, Jeff Rashid  who took the perfect reference photo, and graciously shared it with me.

786 Signs Galore

This past weekend, I attended a workshop taught by one of my very favorite artists, Tom Nachreiner.  It was held at the Mainstreet Art Center in Lake Zurich, IL and it was a very valuable, yet humbling experience.  At Tom's suggestion, I decided to work with my new friend or foe, (depending on the day) water soluble oil paints.  We were each given the same photo reference and I was not prepared for so much detail---there were at least 13 signs in the original!!!!  Tom started the workshop with a demonstration, and early on, I texted my husband, "I'm in way over my head."  It was really fun to see all the different ways the participants approached the task and a great learning experience.  One day soon I will tackle the second day's photo, a farm scene, which I hope I am more successful at.  I may even repaint this scene with my acrylic paints to see how that turns out. 

"786 Signs Galore"
oil - 12x16 in

http://www.dailypaintworks.com/fineart/diane-campion/786-signs-galore/462795

dianecampion.blogspot.com

785 Worried

 

As this little girl sat on the bench to rest at her soccer game, she appeared to be worried about something, and I couldn't help but snap a photo of her.

"785 Worried"
acrylic - 8.5x11 in

http://www.dailypaintworks.com/fineart/diane-campion/785-worried/462529

dianecampion.blogspot.com