IT'S JUST A CAMP...DREAM ON

"IT'S JUST A CAMP" some will say...

"THERE ARE PEOPLE WHO LOST THEIR HOMES..."

others will say...

and still others may say, "THERE ARE CHILDREN WITH NO BEDS"

With all this said, and feeling a somewhat selfish guilt that 

some of us are not suffering as badly as others,

A camp for our Down the Bayou People is like our home.

My son, had just completed the buying of his own Camp that he 

has saved and dreamed about since he was a little kid.

Days after the storm, when we still did not know just how bad

Our Bayou was, Rod tried to talk himself through the fact that

his camp was gone. Thinking it was a gamble to even buy a camp 

in that area. Saying all this aloud, I told him that was a good 

way to look at it, he professed "I am trying to convince myself"

Days later when he and his girls were helping on the bayou,

he was able to see the roof of his camp with a set of binoculars.

A few days after he was able to go back there with his boat

and realize that although his camp was salvageable, so many were not.

I am sure he was thinking of his own selfish guilt at that time.

This introduction takes me to my dear friends,

Cindy and Pat Walker's camp, DREAM ON

I was fortunate enough to be commissioned by our other dear friend,

Allie, to paint Dream On.

It was in my early days and sometimes, I really did not know how

the final painting would come out.

This portrait became on of my favorites.

Unfortunately, Dream On, as Cindy's grandchildren said,

should now be called Nightmare....

Yes, it was just a camp....

but people in South Louisiana, who are fortunate to have a camp,

are not those who were born into wealth or given such a 

luxury item. Their camps stand for so much more.

They may have dreamed and thought of owning one their whole lives,

like my Son. 

They may have worked 80 plus hours a week just to save a little bit

on the side for the day that maybe they could have a camp.

Others may have started their own business with hopes of making it 

bigger than their parents, only to want the luxury of a camp.

Still others may have not gone on vacations so as to invest in the camp

they wanted one day. 

Camps in this area are rarely owned by anyone who were just blessed to "get a camp".

So for these people, their camp is and extension of their home

It is something they wanted so badly that even though there may not

be any insurance companies who will cover them, they still

take the leap of faith to own one, knowing that with any storm,

they could have lost it all.

Hurricane Ida took DREAM ON from the Walkers, as she

did many others.

They remain in that limbo where they try and grasp the loss 

without forgetting just how blessed they are to have a roof over

their head, loved ones who have survived illnesses.

However their camp along with all the others symbolized a

life of relaxation, where a family could gather and share their lives.

Where work could not interfere with time at the camp,

where love was spread and spoken.

I am relieved for my son that he has some camp left. 

while I am sad for others who have not been so fortunate.

In closing I would  like to say, I love what I do,

So that the Walkers have my camp portrait to 

remind them to DREAM ON...

Everyone needs a dream, I am glad my art can

remind them of that.