The two main ingredients in Camille Shu’s paintings and illustrations are flowers and fruit. Mainly inspired by “plants and the things they do/make,” she admits to being in complete awe of the things that grow around us. “Fruit, flowers, trees, all of it,” she elaborated. “Something simple like opening a blood orange from the store is a religious experience for me and makes me want to immediately get painting.”
Based in Portland, her work includes commercial and editorial illustrations, as well as mural paintings. But in addition to being a sought after creative, she has also worked as a florist, as well as working part-time on a farm. So being inspired by nature is quite natural for her.
“I find inspiration from things around me, things that are in season or whose presence is fleeting,” she says. “It could be the melon I had for lunch in August or the sweet peas that are in season in June and growing in my yard.”
Using mainly Gouache, she hopes to bring more color into people’s lives through her art, as well as help people appreciate the world around us. Her work is mostly realistic, but she doesn’t shy from abstract shapes as well, describing her overall aesthetic as “colorful and funky.”
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