My Early Works -- by Cameron O

Cameron wanted to post her artwork along with some commentary. She has been very vocal these days so she had a lot to say about her art. I'm not sure that I got everything down but I believe this is mostly what she was trying to convey. Enjoy :-)

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As many of you may already know I'm a big fan of art, but really was unsure if I wanted to start producing my own work. My first experience painting was not such a pleasant one. Here you see my first ever piece. In this early work, I tried experimenting with mixing vegetable paint in various colors while still leaving the original colors intact. I was not completely satisfied with the final outcome but still allowed it to be shown for a limited engagement on the class bulletin board. I call this "Fall Leaf I."

My second piece, "Fall Leaf II" was an expression of my mood at the time. I was becoming more familiar with my surroundings and learning more about myself. I began to spend more time with other young artists and learned that the paint was a good medium to communicate my feelings. This piece was shown as part of a young non-mobile artist show. Here you see I used much cooler colors, green and yellow, and really used more of the paper plate canvas.


I've always been interested in wildlife. My work began to drift towards animal subjects and I chose a happy squirrel as my first ever animal painting. I call this painting "Yellow Happy Squirrel." I had it laminated and attached to a string of construction paper acorns which was then suspended from above, representing the natural environment of squirrels living high in trees, protected from those on the ground.


Next I was invited to participate in a collaborative mural inspired by "Old Mac Donald." At first I was unsure what farm animal would inspire me to create something worthy of this work since it was going to be put on a highly visible window. I finally chose an animal with special meaning to someone very close to me. I created the "Pink Duck" which I dedicated to my mother for many reasons.

After all the acclaim my paintings received, I really felt that I needed to express myself in another medium. So I started to work with sculptures. My first sculpture painting was featured in a young artist profile of the day. You can see the published work closer by clicking on the article below.

This particular sculpture, "Corn Husk Man I" was the first part of a two piece work, which also included "Painted Pumpkin." Several of my fellow non-mobile artists worked on similiar pieces, but I feel my interpretation really gets to the heart of the subject matter. With the contrast of the dark colors on the pumpkin signifying the death of millions of pumpkins for the short-lived enjoyment of man, represented by the light colors of the Corn Husk Man, celebrating the tradition of jack-o-lanterns.

I believe there will be much more art in my future. I hope to have an annual art show that will feature all my work and hope you will be regular attendees to witness how my work matures as I do. Thank you.