Painting the Body: Julia Cameron Damon

Katie Roberts

It’s common to discover that the lives of artists influence the work they do.  Their art is an expression of not just their vision, but of the journey they travel in life.  I was fortunate to sit down with a body painter, Julia Cameron Damon, and learn more about her artwork.  As children, we love to play, to create, and Julia has never lost that impulse. As a girl, she painted everything – rocks, trees, paper.  As a college student, she earned a BFA in painting – the traditional style at Indiana University.  Julia, however, is an iconoclast who has sought her own path. 

Paint can be applied to any medium, and Julia chose the human body. 

After college, she sought to become a massage therapist.  Julia strived to gain access to a renowned massage school, but was denied an interpreter.  She reapplied year after year for 17 times, but had no luck.  Just like any other Deaf artist, she faced barriers on her path, but found strength in another Deaf applicant. The both of them managed to gain access to that same school with the necessary support services, and Julia now has been a certified massage therapist for the past ten years.

Fate has a way of weaving the discordant threads of a person’s life path, and while Julia waited to earn her certificate, she received a license to teach Art – to hearing children.  It was a lovely experience, which she wishes to repeat, only to work with Deaf children.  As an art teacher, she sought to bring out the artistic instincts from students, and she still does that today with her clients. 

 It is clear that from a young age, Art and the human body has been intertwined in her life.  During massages, she would ask persons to visualize the colors of their dreams, their thoughts, and discovered that she often shared the same visualization they did.  A friend allowed her to paint their body, and she was thrilled to try. From that first time, it was a significant experience shared with the artist and the subject. 

 Such as writers, painters seek inside to draw out their thoughts, feelings and emotions to be put on canvas. As the human body is the canvas, both Julia and patron must work together to draw out the inner vision, to be put on the body.

            A standard body painting session can run into the hundreds, as Julia uses the best quality of paints – pure pigment, and works on building a rapport with the client.  When the painting is done, there is a photography session done by Julia.  Julia and the client will work together to create a temporary space of their own, to showcase the body painting. It is really hard work for the subject, and they must be honored, shown respect and love.  Her customers vouch for her work, and word of mouth has spread.  

It takes courage for a client to expose their body as well as their vision, and so Julia encourages them to be brave, to share.

All different body types and ages are welcome, and she works hard to bring out the beauty in all those bodies with the paint. Often a client will bring a concept and they will work on it together, such as of a yoga teacher who had her hair wound up like horns (she was an Aries) and her body painted with purple.  Sometimes the client and Julia will work together to create something new as they proceed.  She starts with their faces, accentuating their contours, lining their bone structure, allowing the client to guide the process. Every time, she is amazed by the results, by finding the way each person is beautiful.  As of this time, she has painted over 500 people!

            Julia and I spent quite a bit of time chatting about the subjects that she had painted.  It is clear to me that she has personally invested in those people, and remembers fondly each of those experiences.  The experience for the artist and the subject is mutual. While the subject participates in a world of their own creation, Julia is invited to experience a part of them. 

She has learned about what it means to be proud of whom you are and the body you inhabit, whether it means strutting down a city street in broad daylight dressed only in paint and a bikini, or posing out at the beach with the ocean water. Skinny or fat, tall or short, every body shape is unique and needs to be celebrated, something we do not see today in our media-saturated culture.  With a wistful smile, Julia tells me she wishes she could work with teenage girls – to paint them all, so they would know how beautiful they are right now, just the way they are.




www.CamroseArtesInfinitae.com