"Time is a very precious gift ~ so precious that it is only given to us moment by moment." ~ Amelia Barr

NEW! CAMPBELL HOUSE COLLECTION

This page shares my NEW collection of 12 Campbell House paintings below. I've included photographs of each setting and interesting historical details, as well.

The restored Tudor half-timbered Campbell House mansion is pictured in the background of this photo and is part of the MAC (Spokane's Northwest Museum of Arts & Culture) complex.

You'll see our kitties in each of the paintings, as the artwork here is part of larger collection I'm creating for my book, "Andy & Sophie visit the Campbell House."

A HEARTFELT THANK YOU...

...to the many friends and patrons who stopped by local holiday art/gift fairs or found me on the web during the 2011 holiday Season. I so appreciate your very kind interest and generous support. It's important to me to give back, especially at this time when our communities are struggling, so every year I donate a portion of my annual proceeds to local non-profits.

WHERE YOU CAN FIND MY WORK

Find me at these and other locations on my Retail page:

Below you'll find a dozen works honoring this remarkable Kirtland K. Cutter creation ~ with more paintings to come. I've divided the collection into three groups:

NOTE: I created a NEW 2012 calendar for the MAC devoted to the Campbell House. Although sold out through this site, you may find a few copies at the MAC Gift Shop in Spokane (NorthwestMuseum.org ~ 509.456.3931).

Click on the artwork images below to see larger views of each of the paintings. Beneath the themes are photos plus a little background on each.

ENJOY!

THE FAMILY SUITE (4 Paintings ~ 2 NEW!)

NEW! "Touring the Campbell House" (JANUARY 2011 • ACRYLIC ON CANVAS • 8X10-INCH)

This is a newly revised portrait of the Campbell House, which is part of the Northwest Museum of Arts & Culture (MAC) complex, located in the heart of Browne’s Addition.

Made wealthy through a mining partnership with neighbor, John A. Finch, Amasa, Grace and daughter Helen enjoyed luxurious living in this handsome home overlooking the Spokane River valley.

One of several remarkable residences designed by renowned architect, Kirtland K. Cutter, this home has been meticulously restored and is available to tour.

NEW! "Rose Reception Room" (AUGUST 2011 • ACRYLIC ON CANVAS • 8X10-INCH)

Inside the entrance of the Campbell House to the right is the rose, white and gilt Louis XVI French Rococo reception room. Gold leaf embellishes the woodwork, mantle and wall panels. A delicate porcelain portrait of the Madonna and Child sits on the mantle ~ popular in Victorian home decor.

Social calls were a very important part of upper class life in the late 1800s, and this ornate room is where Grace Campbell received her guests. According to custom, visits were brief (about 15 minutes) with the women leaving their calling cards as a reminder they were there before moving on to the next household.

"Delightful Dining at the Campbell House” (JANUARY 2009 • ACRYLIC ON CANVAS • 8X10-INCH)

This work portrays the Campbell House’s formal dining room. The large room (20 by 25 feet) features an expansive table seating up to 12, a grand buffet, a fireplace of Delft-style tiles, and six large windows.

This was the scene of many elegant dinner parties, although it served the small family as well (Amasa, wife Grace and daughter Helen). I gave this painting a Valentine’s Day dinner party theme ~ a most welcome holiday during Spokane’s long dark winters.

When the family required a servant to attend to their needs, they discretely pushed a small button located beneath the tabletop.

"Christmas at the Campbell House" (SEPTEMBER 2005 • ACRYLIC ON CANVAS • 8X10-INCH)

The Campbell family’s focal point was the library on the main floor of their home. Located left of the entryway, it is finished in rich dark oak echoing the woodwork in the hallway. Dark beams set off the ceiling in the library and there is a handsome carved Gothic arch over the fireplace.

This room provided the family with a warm and inviting place for casual relaxation like listening to music, reading and playing board games. The Campbells also hosted parties and dances here, as well as more formal events like weddings and funerals.

On June 27th, 1917, the library was festooned with blossoms to host the wedding celebration of the Campbell’s only daughter Helen to William Powell.

THE SERVANTS' SUITE (4 Paintings ~ All NEW!)

NEW! "Cookies in the Kitchen” (JUNE 2011• ACRYLIC ON CANVAS • 8X10-INCH)

The red and white kitchen with its white octagonal tile floor must have been a hub of activity when the Campbell family lived in their home. It was conveniently located across the hall from the servants’ dining room on one side and next to the butler’s pantry which served the formal dining room on the other.

This room must have hummed all day. The focal point is the huge, ornate Majestic wood stove with ovens for baking, roasting and keeping things warm and a cook top large enough to accommodate several skillets and saucepans. To the left of the range is a walk-in pantry equipped with a glass-windowed oak storage unit.

I gave this piece a cookie-baking theme as I’m certain plenty of that was going on between during the holidays.

NEW! "Dessert in the Servants' Dining Room” (JULY 2011 • ACRYLIC ON CANVAS • 8X10-INCH)

The Campbell’s servants’ cozy dining room is on the east end of the home facing the street. The staff ate their meals here and probably gathered to be briefed on the daily tasks. The dining room was in the servants’ portion of the residence across the hall from the busy kitchen (the cook prepared meals for both the Campbell family and the staff). Wainscoting enhanced the room and windows on two sides let in plenty of natural sunlight so it was a pleasant place to meet and dine.

The live-in household staff consisted of five to seven servants: the cook, the first maid (main floor duties), the second maid (second floor duties and assistant to the first maid), two more domestics as needed, the coachman and a gardener to manage the surrounding grounds.

NEW! "Lovely Linen Room"(JUY 2011 • ACRYLIC ON CANVAS • 8X10-INCH)

Tucked into the southeast corner of the second floor, this room catches the morning sun, so on sunny days this must have been a cheerful place to be. The north wall had built-in shelves and drawers for storing the bed and table linens that a fine residence like the Campbell House required.

Grace and Helen stayed abreast of the latest fashions and shunned ready-to-wear. They visited several salons in New York, and ordered garments from there, Boston and San Francisco.

Once or twice a year, a fine seamstress used this room for a couple of weeks to measure and sew for the family. I’ve pictured the wire dress form and the sewing machine ~ no electricity required as this apparatus used “foot power.”

NEW! "Laundry on the Line " (AUGUST 2011 • ACRYLIC ON CANVAS • 8X10-INCH)

The basement of the Campbell House housed storage areas for firewood, a walk-in “cool room” for food, the den where Amasa entertained his gentlemen friends, and the laundry.

The laundry was a dark, gloomy room, and even though its windows opened beneath the veranda, no amount of electric lights could help as it also faced north, receiving little sunlight. My guess is that this was rather a dreary place to work.

Some of the laundry “tools” are pictured in this artwork: irons to be heated and pots for boiling water on the wood stove, an apparatus for drying socks, and a clothes line with a carpet and kitchen towels clothes-pinned to it. A large drying rack was used to stretch curtains into shape after washing, eliminating both shrinkage and ironing.

REST & RECUPERATION (4 Paintings ~ 3 NEW!)

NEW! "Blossoms in the Master Bedroom” (JULY 2011 • ACRYLIC ON CANVAS • 8X10-INCH)

Amasa and Grace slept in this spacious master bedroom on the northwest corner of their home. It is decorated with pretty floral wallpaper and carpeting, enjoying the same beautiful view of the Spokane River as daughter Helen’s room.

Remarkable is the fact that the door behind the standing mirror by the fireplace leads to a windowed sunroom. When Mr. Campbell was living, this was a smaller deck above the veranda, but upon his death in 1912, Grace expanded the veranda and added this enclosed space adjacent to her room. It may have been a sleeping porch or perhaps a morning room where she planned meals and tended to her correspondence.

"Helen's Blue Bedroom” (NOVEMBER 2006 • ACRYLIC ON CANVAS • 8X10-INCH)

Daughter Helen Campbell’s bedroom is a delicate blend of blues and golds set against a background of floral wallpaper and carpeting. In my painting, crisp white cotton curtains frame a stunning view of the Spokane River, but new blue silk draperies were recently reproduced. There is a fireplace fitted into the southwest corner. A matching table, writing desk and twin-size bed created a cozy place to study and sleep for the Campbell’s only child.

Helen’s era was quite different from her parent’s restrictive Victorian upbringing. In keeping with the society in which they moved, she was a debutante, but their popular, athletic daughter also drove the family car and went to the movies at least once a week.

NEW! "Gorgeous Blooms in the Guest Room" (LAKE WASHINGTON, WA • SEPTEMBER 1999 • ACRYLIC ON CANVAS • 8X10-INCH)

I filled this artwork honoring the Campbell House’s yellow guest room with several large bouquets of yellow daisies. Crystal vases adorn the tables, mantle and the headboard of the chaise lounge.

This comfortable room is one of two guest rooms and features a brilliant yellow tile walk-in fireplace at the west end of it. At the foot of the four-poster canopied bed is a tufted, upholstered chaise lounge with a similar armless chair and steamer trunk by the fireplace.

The windows that overlook First Avenue offer a cozy place to relax on their charming, cushioned window seats.

"Kittiewinks at the Campbell House” (JANUARY 2010 • ACRYLIC ON CANVAS • 8X10-INCH)

’ve loved this beautiful old place since my first visit as a Campfire Girl in the mid-1950s. In those days it was the Cheney Cowles Museum ~ about to begin a remarkable journey of restoration. Now a part of the Northwest Museum of Arts & Culture (or simply the MAC), the mansion is the jewel in the complex “crown.”

In this painting you can glimpse the guest rooms and linen room (with its sewing machine) on the second floor and the library, reception room and servants’ dining room on the main floor.

Our “kittiewinks” (bothered by some ladybugs) are waking up from their nap and about to enter the home with my husband Doug and mother Sally who introduced me to the Campbell House those many years ago. This painting is dedicated to her.

CAMPBELL HOUSE TOURS & MORE

The home is open year-round for touring. At Christmastime, you can wander the house at will. Tickets are available at the front desk of the museum. For more information and to find out how to support the MAC, visit them at NorthwestMuseum.org or phone them at 509.456.3931.

HOW TO ORDER ANY OF THE ARTWORK FEATURED ABOVE ~

For details on purchasing prints or cards of any of the paintings featured in this "Campbell House Collection" (or any of the artwork featured throughout this site), please visit my Ordering page. There's a description of all available items ~ plus a convenient pdf order form that you can fax, scan/email or drop in the mailbox. (Now accepting Visa, MasterCard and American Express).

2012 Calendars (both the "Campbell House" and "Landmarks" editions), greeting cards, prints and magnets are also available at the MAC Gift Shop.

ENJOY THE SEASON!

QUESTIONS ABOUT THE ARTWORK?

iPhone: 206.406.1409

Email: artist@pattisimpsonward.com

On the Web: PattiSimpsonWard.com