Camille Fox

    CCP asks Camille Fox the deep questions

​1. What gets you out of bed every day?

The necessity to water my flowering plants before the sun rises and a wake-up coffee

2. Who is the artist that has inspired you the most?

There are so many that it’s difficult to narrow down. However, there are two who stand out the most for me, Rembrandt and Chagall. Rembrandt for his incredible use of light and his humour. Chagall for his childlike 'joie de vivre’ and whimsy.

3. What medium are you working with?

 am currently working in oil on canvas.

4. When you are creating art do you listen to music, and if so, what genre and/or band? And if you don’t, are there other essential items that you use? 

Music is very important to me when I am painting. It sets the mood and connects me to the work. I’ve painted whole exhibitions to the soundtracks of ‘Caravans’ and ‘Out of Africa’. I also listen to Nat King Cole, Ella Fitzgerald, The Ink Spots, Julio Iglesias and Bee Gees.

5.  Do you make prints from your original artworks? How important is that print to you and your work?

I have limited edition Giclée prints made of all my paintings. I work in close collaboration with Charing Cross Photo who produce for me the most divine prints on museum quality archival paper. The colour matching is perfection. These prints are a very important aspect of my art practice and I have a large following who purchase my prints in Australia and overseas. 

6. Acrylic, watercolour, oil, gouache, ink.

What are your thoughts and ideas about these 5 different art mediums?

Oil is my favourite without a doubt. I mix my palette in the morning and I still work with it well into the evening, unlike acrylic which dries in minutes and is my least favourite medium. I also like gouache on paper for spontaneous humorous works and ink pens for drawing on my lap while watching TV at night.

7. Have you exhibited your work, and other than the print, how important was the framing process to you?

 I’ve had several exhibitions in Australia and overseas and am currently painting towards an exhibition in São Paulo in 2024. I’ve just completed a commission for the Sydney Jewish Museum of ten paintings depicting key Jewish life events and Jewish festivals. It has taken a year to complete and has been life changing for me by reconnecting me to my rich heritage. 

My oil paintings are on stretched canvas which do not require framing. It’s a choice the collector makes after purchasing the painting. I favour a simple box frame for my oil paintings, where this is desired. However, my works on paper require framing behind glass and I love the paper being floated with cerated edges, a technique which is perfected at Charing Cross Framing. I like a simple white, black or gold frame. 

8. What defines a great artwork?

How can you define such a personal matter? A work that connects and resonates with your heart is a great artwork.

9. What is your favourite genre of art? Why? and also your favourite piece of art?

I love figurative illustrative works such as the work of Norman Rockwell. I like some impressionists such as Claude Monet and Camille Pissarro because I love their paintings and also because they were very nice guys. I know it’s a strange thing to say but I am swayed by the artists kindness when I look at their work. I love Gustav Klimt’s portrait of Adele Bloch- Bauer for its beauty, and also its history.

 10.What is the best and most enduring advice about art you have received? Tell us by whom if you can or want to?

I don’t know who originally said this but I have it displayed in my studio on a little piece of paper written to me twenty years ago by my painting professor “If the poetry is strong enough you don’t check the grammar”.

11. When you are not making art, what else do you do?

I live in Bondi and I love the laid-back bohemian life style. I try to start my day with a brisk walk around the block after I water my pot plants. If I’m not painting that day, I’ll meet a friend for lunch or go with my husband Tony to one of the many casual cafes in Bondi or get some retail therapy at Westfield or imbibe some culture at the Art Gallery of NSW. Whichever way I fill my days, my life basically revolves around my studio and making art. 

Camille Fox - March 2023

Eugene Delacroix said “The primary merit of a painting is to be a feast for the eye”.