The Stevens Art Gallery hosted the art exhibits of senior fine arts major Angela DeCamp and professor of art Daniel Adams until Feb. 21.
DeCamp, graduating in May, hosted her own art show and a larger group show for bachelor of science majors will take place later in the semester.
DeCamp’s oil paintings focus on portraiture. DeCamp said she paints unusual paintings of people she knows and even of herself.
“When it comes to art, people are going to tell you a lot of different things,” DeCamp said. “They tell me ‘paint what you can sell, paint what people like that way you can sell your work,’ but I really try to go the opposite direction. I paint what I feel at the time or what I’m passionate about.”
The backgrounds of her paintings are inspired by her various travels. They vary from New Zealand and Vietnam to her own front yard.
DeCamp said she has learned many lessons from studying art, but the biggest was not to be afraid what people want or expect from you.
“Just use the gifts that God gave you,” DeCamp said. “Do what you’re passionate about.”
Professor of art Beverly Austin has worked with DeCamp the past four years. She said she has seen DeCamp’s art develop to a more professional level throughout the time that Austin has worked with her.
Austin said DeCamp has a good work ethic and is driven to create the world around her in a stimulating way.
“Angela is an experimenter and isn’t afraid to make mistakes and learn from them,” Austin said. “It’s exciting to watch her work and to see her creative process from inception to the finished product.”
Adams also had his work on display in the Stevens Art Gallery along with DeCamp’s.
Adams said that a wood block is used in order to do the type of art that he presented in the show. He draws an image on the block and then carves away the rest of the wood so that when ink is applied only the desired image will be transferred to paper. By the end, the block is useless because the surface is slowly taken away with each image that is made.
Adams work is also inspired by his travels around the world.
“In 1996 when we went on our first HUF trip, we got bitten by the travel bug and haven’t wanted to stop since,” Adams said. “You see interesting things in other places.”
Adams and his wife recently decided to travel around America to all of the different national parks. Their travels to Death Valley inspired his Golden Canyon series.
DeCamps’ and Adamss art is for sale. They can be contacted by email for more information. The Stevens Art Gallery is open to the public daily from 1-5 p.m.
