Dan's Cover Artist Camilla Webster Talks Painting, War Zones and More

This week’s delightful painting comes to us from Camilla Webster, one of South Florida’s leading living artists and designers. Here, she discusses her East End inspirations, signature art style and the highlights of her successful art career.

A Chat with Camilla Webster

What inspired you to create this painting, and how did you choose its title?

The epic views of a seascape and the channel represent all points in time. Points in our journey in life. I’ve always felt the beauty and power of channel markers looking out from Sag Harbor to Shelter Island. I think the markers are a metaphor for the path we take and the guidance we receive. The colorfield is hope. I have a series of channel marker paintings that were born from this piece.

What did the creation process of this painting entail?

It’s a large canvas. Drawing on idyllic memory, a spiritual connection to the natural world, I listen to music and explore an expressionist colorfield across the water. The channels are somewhat anthropomorphic — that was just a happy accident — and appear like guides. Views like this invite us to pause and take stock of our lives and the title speaks to this.

How did you develop your art style, and would you say it’s still evolving?

Before pursuing my career as an artist full time, I was an international journalist covering war zones including the U.S. invasion of Iraq. After experiencing the horrors and trials of mankind for decades, I dedicated my life as an artist to bring healing and inspiration through my paintings. I felt it was important to bring radical beauty back to contemporary art.

Calm beauty and idyllic memory have always been a signature of my work. I pursue these ideas through landscapes, seascapes and nightscapes. Every painting tells a story. Art critic Bruce Helander calls my work “narrative abstraction.”

I studied under the great colorfield abstract painter Pat Lipsky at the Art Students League and vibrant color has long been a signature of my work.

What art accomplishment or accolade are you most proud of?

A trifecta of events this year in exhibitions, academia and social impact.

Last year I was invited to create an art experience for the Southampton Art Center gala and exhibited “Evening Trees” there during the fall. I grew up in the Hamptons and it means a great deal to exhibit here.

I just completed a visiting artist residency at Anderson Ranch Arts Center in Aspen.

This year I created and curated an art experience of bell sculptures at The Norton Museum of Art for The Salvation Army by a collective of world artists like Harry Benson CBE, Hunt Slonem, Bruce Helander and Romero Britto.

What do you find most rewarding about being an artist?

Painting and creating are a great spiritual high I’m lucky to experience every day. Seeing my paintings give a sense of peace, love and joy to collectors and the public is incredible.

Where can your art be viewed now and/or later this summer?

This year I’ve focused on having a strong digital presence. You can see my works at the Untitled Space in New York, Sorokin Gallery in Greenwich and Manolis Projects in Miami. All of the works are also online.

Would you like to share any closing thoughts or additional information?

Born and raised in New York, the raw beauty of the Hamptons is part of my soul. I hope to capture its beauty and spirit for many years to come.

Visit camillawebster.com to view more of Camilla Webster’s art, and follow her @camillawebster on Instagram.