The Pecan Park Eagle

Fine landscape artist Sylvia Cameron and I attended school together here in Houston at St. Christopher's in Park Place from the 2nd through the 8th grades. Sylvia now has a show in progress at the Archway Gallery, 2305 Dunlavy, through May 3rd. "Umbrian Landscapes" is a great depiction of the Italian countryside.

Sylvia Cameron and her sister, Shirley Cameron, and I attended parochial school together from the mid-1940s through the early 1950s. It’s highly possible that by the time of our 1952 graduation day that we had never spoken to each other, let alone held a conversation, It was part of the culture that raised us back in the day. Boys and girls went to class together back in those pre-Vatican Catholic School Days, but we rarely, if ever, spoke or had anything to do with each other as the opposite sex. And the Dominican nuns who taught us pretty much kept things that way until we reached our final year there prior to moving on to the one boys and two all girls Catholic high schools in Houston.

Last night I shared more thoughts and words with Sylvia Cameron in smaller segments of time over two hours at her art show than I ever had in the seven years we attended school together and, in spite of our rather limited actual relationship with each other years ago as identifiable fellow students, it was good to see her again, see her beautiful art work, and good to learn a little about her wondrous life.

Shirley graduated from St. Agnes Academy in Houston in 1956 and then became a Dominican nun for fifteen years. I’m not sure what she did after she left the convent, but she obviously developed into the fine artist that she is today. Another fellow St. Christopher student who told me of the art show now featured at the Archway Gallery at 2305 Dunlavy, Garland (Debner) Pohl, also told me something I doubt many, if any of us, knew while we were classmates with Sylvia and Shirley Cameron back in the day:  They were the daughters of the family that owned Cameron Iron Works.

Wow! The owners of Cameron Iron Works! That was more than a chip shot away from where most of our fathers worked as members of the St. Christopher’s group, but you never would have known it by the humble and “just-two-among-us” behavior of the Cameron girls. The Camerons produced iron and raised kids with character of steel.

Bill and Garland (Debner) Pohl pose at The Archway Gallery in front of two paintings by our shared former classmate, Sylvia Cameron.

When I told Sylvia that I was glad I had been there Saturday night to see her work, I added words along the line that I felt she had brought great beauty to the world with the talents that God has given her. She thanked me and smiled, adding: “I’ve had a good life.”

Sylvia Cameron’s words were totally believable. You can see it in her work.

The Archway Gallery, 2305 Dunlavy, Houston, TX. Tel.: 713.522.2409

If you have any interest in Italy, Italian landscapes, or if you are planning a trip to Italy anytime soon, do yourself a joyous favor and check out the artwork of Sylvia Cameron that will remain on display at The Archway Gallery through Thursday, May 3, 2012.

The gallery is open to the public from 10:00 AM to 6:00 PM, Monday through Saturday and 1:00 PM to 5:00 PM on Sunday.

For further online information about “Umbrian Landscapes,” check out Archway’s website at this link:

http://www.archwaygallery.com/

Have a nice Sunday, everybody!

Tags: Archway Gallery in Houston, landscape art, Sylvia Cameron, Umbrian Landscapes

This entry was posted on April 15, 2012 at 12:22 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.