The Rhodora

On being asked, whence is the flower.

In May, when sea-winds pierced our solitudes,

I found the fresh Rhodora in the woods,

Spreading its leafless blooms in a damp nook,

To please the desert and the sluggish brook.

The purple petals fallen in the pool

Made the black water with their beauty gay;

Here might the red-bird come his plumes to cool,

And court the flower that cheapens his array.

Rhodora! if the sages ask thee why

This charm is wasted on the earth and sky,

Tell them, dear, that, if eyes were made for seeing,

Then beauty is its own excuse for Being;

Why thou wert there, O rival of the rose!

I never thought to ask; I never knew;

But in my simple ignorance suppose

The self-same power that brought me there, brought you.

-R. W. Emerson

Classical Painter Camie Salaz: ‘I Love Wonder’

“I love Beauty. I love Wonder, and I love Meaning.”

Artist Camie Isabella Salaz is a teacher, a devoted classicist, and (we’re please to announce) one of two artists selected to participate in La Napoule Art Foundation’s 2015 Grand Central Atelier (GCA) Artists in Residence.

Camie’s style demonstrates her love of storytelling and a rich education in the Classical tradition. She earned a BFA in drawing and painting from the Cornish College of Fine Art in Seattle and studied at The Water Street Atelier under Jacob Collins.

Camie generously agreed to answer a few questions about her technique, inspirations, and projects as she prepared for her Residency at the Château de La Napoule.

Romeo & Juliette

What factors and influences contributed to you choosing to work in the Classical tradition?

I love Beauty. I love Wonder, and I love Meaning, all of which are found in the many different styles of painting within our world’s 3,000-year history of the Classical painting tradition. I find that more modern styles of art (of the last 60 to 70 years) are sometimes lacking in these ideas and experiences.

You say on your website that you have a “dream of creating paintings as public works of art.” Can you explain why you feel this is important?

The paintings that have inspired me throughout my life are works of art I experienced in libraries, museums, parks, music halls, and other public spaces. They were often large in size and large in vision and seem, to me, to be created for the purpose of raising up humanity. So now it is my dream to also create such works in public spaces.

Psyche’s Mourning

You teach Classical painting at GCA. What do you find rewarding and/or challenging about teaching?

I teach privately and am currently giving workshops at the GCA.

The pursuit of mastering any craft requires, among other things, faith in the process and faith in one’s self. It can be challenging and heartbreaking when students are experiencing periods of doubt in their work and in themselves. But it is beyond rewarding when a student’s love of drawing and painting wins out over fears and difficulties and unrelenting perseverance begins to take root in an individual.

What’s the greatest thing about living with another artist (i.e, your husband, Kenneth Salaz)?

The greatest thing, for me, about living with another artist is sharing our love of Beauty, in nature, parenthood, friendship, and the arts. The greatest thing about living with my husband Kenneth is his conviction that we can have it all, do it all, together, beautifully, in this lifetime.

Roma

Do you have a particular project you will be working on during your residency?

See more examples of Camie’s work onher website. For information about LNAF Residencies, visit lnaf.org/residencies

Grand Central Atelier is a nonprofit arts organization that provides a “collaborative workspace for artists pursuing the methodology of historic ateliers to create drawing, painting and sculpture from life.” For more inforI am most excited about the architecture of the castle: how the waves break on the castle wall, the towers, the Mediterranean light that fills the hallways, the entryways and the windows. I am planning on doing interior and exterior studies of the architecture and stonework that will inspire atmospheres for my figure paintings for years to come.

I am so utterly excited!

mation, visit the GCA website.