PRESS KIT - FOR IMmEDIATE RELEASE

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As an artist, my journey has been one less travelled; it has been an adventure of learning to see. To see the truth beyond what I am told or assume is there. To see clearly is to look directly at what is before me, the details, the facts, and most importantly, the relationships of one thing to another. I've required both ingenuity and creativity to solve the many challenges an artist's life encounters. Losing weight and regaining my love for food was one of these challenges.  
Now that I am well into my Third Thirty, it is time to share what I have learned.

  
The First Thirty years is the Learning phase. We discover who we are and what skills we require, and we develop. We learn about the world and how we fit into the scheme of things.  

The Second Thirty years is the Power phase. We build and make during these decades. We may nurture a family, build a business, or create our finest work. We may walk many different paths, but not without leaving a trail of gifts in our wake.   

The Third Thirty is the Sharing phase. They are the years for engagement, reflection and passing down the fruits of a lifetime. I have written this story of rebalancing and recovery through food. By looking closely, as I do when I paint, looking for the facts and details and our relationship to food, I was able to see clearly and recover my health and my love for food.   

I know it is my responsibility to investigate, uncover and identify the traps and triggers to my food addictions so I may find the solutions to overcome them. Today, all the information, all the details are available to us. We need to learn to look, see, investigate and discover the truth to find a path forward - to act upon what we found.  

Doctors had abandoned me at the age of fifty-five, telling me my issues were because of my age. My issues were aching joints, pains in my gut, depression, and fatigue, I lost my ability to read, and I was having trouble understanding what people were saying..  I could no longer see clearly, so I stopped painting.  

At what age? At 55?  Really?   

I would not be who I am today, but instead, someone living with dementia, if it were not for my husband, Jeffrey, and his determined investigation to find 

integrative health practices and practitioners. My ability to read returned when I began treatment for the heavy metal excess identified in my tissues and supplemented my deficient vitamin D3. I also began to investigate.

There will always be the smoke and mirrors from those who have something to gain from our ignorance. We respond to their song and dance willingly, passively fulfilling their goals. To resist instant gratification, we must learn to see through the glitter and haze and look beyond the first veil to locate the relationships that reveal the truth. We have eyes to see, ears to hear and memories to record our history. We must learn to distinguish between reality and the stage set up to entertain or appease us. 

   
When I opened my eyes and mind to research my challenges, their solutions became obvious. As a result of my efforts, I was able to break my food addiction, achieve a healthy lifestyle, and rediscover my love of food. I wrote this book to show you how to investigate and question, just as the painter scrupulously observes, so you too can find solutions to your challenges. 

Photos of artist, Laurie De Camillis  by Heidi R. Burkhardt celebrated Canadian artist and elected member of the OSA, the  CSPWC and the Arts & Letters Club of Toronto

· Alcan Collection

· Dupont Collection

· B.C. Provincial Collection

· Mercantile Bank Collection

· Simon Fraser University 

· Art Bank of Canada 

· Trenton Hospital  

· McMaster, Meighen

· Manulife Financial

· Magna International

· The Canadiana Fund

· Cohos Partners

· BMO Nesbitt Burns

· Zurich Collection of Canada
 

· Affinities: Vancouver Art Gallery

      Vancouver, British Columbia

· Alternate Space (solo): Vancouver Art Gallery (solo) 

      Vancouver, British Columbia

· West Coast on Canvas:

      Birmingham, Alabama 

      Vancouver, British Columbia

· On Canvas1980:

      Vancouver, British Columbia

· Insights: Simon Fraser Gallery: 

      Burnaby, British Columbia

· Burnaby Art Gallery: (solo)

      Burnaby, British Columbia

· Surrey Art Gallery: (solo)

      Surrey, British Columbia

· Go Figure: Joseph D. Carrier Gallery

      Toronto, Ontario

· Women in Black (solo): Joseph D. Carrier Gallery 

      Toronto, Ontario