Featuring The Artists of ArtScene Spencerville
CFN – We’re pleased to introduce CFN viewers to a new monthly column produced by Colleen Morris Wilson. These columns will showcase the creativity of the talented artists who participate in the collaborative gallery known as Art Scene, just a short drive west of Cornwall.
Thelma Cameron was a painter, a poet and a writer. Born and raised in Eastern Ontario, Thelma’s work expresses her unique view of the world, where she at times used whimsy to communicate her ideas, and at others, her own individual vision of life. However you look at Thelma’s work, you can see that each piece contains a small bit of what family and friends knew as Thelma Cameron.
Thelma was a self-taught artist who loved to study and learn. She spent much of her formative years in the Cornwall and Hawkesbury area, and at a very young age found a way to store, and then recall, all the memories and mental images she had gathered throughout her life. Later on, she used these memories to create her striking works of art.
Thelma quietly married Keith Cameron in the winter of 1936, an event which was not initially well received by her father. Things eventually did settle down, and Thelma and Keith began the life long process of getting to know the person they married.
After their marriage Thelma and Keith moved to Winchester, and then on to Crystal Rock where she lived for 65 years and raised a family. The families and people stand out in her autobiography as people of quality and resilience. Many of the residents were retired farmers who still had their own gardens, with a few continuing to use kerosene lamps.
In 1939, when World War Two broke out, Keith joined the Canadian Army and Thelma moved back to Cornwall, where she worked and improved her education, while she waited for Keith to return home from the war. She and Keith later went on to have four children, 2 boys and 2 girls.
She opened her own studio, in her home in 1974, and many of her paintings are in the hands of local residents. One was also presented to Queen Elizabeth II, by the Town of Prescott, on the occasion of Her Majesty’s visit to Fort Wellington in the ‘80s.
Thelma Cameron’s work will be on display at ArtScene Spencerville throughout the next six months.
ArtScene Spencerville is located in Spencerville, at 11 Spencer St.
Our hours of operation are Monday to Wednesday, by chance or appointment, Thursday to Saturday, 10:00 am to 5:00pm and Sunday from 11:00 am to 4:00 pm.
For more information please visit our website at www.artscenespencerville.blogspot.com
Wonderful gallery with many offerings in the Historical Village of Spencerville.