THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, September 8, 1994 TAG: 9409070172
SECTION: SUFFOLK SUN PAGE: 16 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY FRANK ROBERTS, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: WAKEFIELD LENGTH: Medium: 65 lines
YOU CAN GET a '52 Chevy for $2,400 - well, a painting of that classic car, anyway.
The artist is Betsy Campen, who has a one-person show at the Wakefield Foundation Center for the Arts through Sept. 29, a reward for a first-place award at a competition there in June.
That kind of recognition is nothing new for the 48-year-old Richmond artist who recently received an honorable mention in the Virginia Watercolor Society's 15th Juried Exhibition in Blacksburg.
Campen was also honored in 1989 by The Artist's Magazine as one of ``America's Award-Winning Painters.''
Many of her paintings are flowers. She prefers referring to them as ``botanicals.''
What's the difference?
``There isn't any,'' Campen said.
The reference came from her living quarters for four years - ``across the street from the botanical gardens in the Virgin Islands.
``I lived through Hurricane Hugo,'' she said. ``I'm suffering post Hugo Stress Syndrome - painting like crazy.''
Many of those paintings have to do with the islands.
On the shiny bumper of the ``52 Chevvie'' Campen painted you can see part of a shopping center, plus the painter herself.
That piece of art was recently exhibited at the Chrysler Museum.
Another Virgin Island painting, ``Betsy's Baggage,'' showed several handbags.
``About a week after I finished that, the bags were stolen,'' said Campen, who also has a picture of garlic on display at Wakefield.
``It was displayed next to some eggplants,'' she said. ``Brooke Shields bought the eggplants.''
One of Campen's favorites from her Virgin Island days is a painting of four mailboxes in St. Croix. She explains its title - ``Still Life.''
``Out of 52 postal zones,'' she said, ``the Islands is number 52.''
Campen was No. 1 in grade No. 2 - her first blue ribbon.
``It was for a painting of a robin redbreast feeding her young,'' she remembers. ``My prize was a dollar.''
She did a lot better last month, selling a painting of a 1932 Packard for $4,500. The buyer was the Medical College of Virginia.
She and her husband, Jim, recently bought a 100-year-old house, which they are restoring.
Campen, who categorizes herself as a ``photo realist,'' will concentrate on that effort before returning to the easel.
First, though, she is working on her one-person show and sale at the Wakefield Foundation for the Arts. MEMO: Paintings by Betsy Campen are on display at the Wakefield Foundation for
the Arts, 100 Wilson Avenue, through Sept. 28. Hours are 9 a.m. to 8
p.m. Monday and Thursday; 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday and Saturday; 1 to 5
p.m. Sunday. Phone: 899-6005.
ILLUSTRATION: Photo by FRANK ROBERTS
Betsy Campen with her ``52 Chevvie,'' one of the many paintings on
display this month at the Wakefield Foundation.
by CNB