The Campbells

My mother started drawing her brother, Harrison, at an early age. See the paintings of him from the 1940's in an earlier post. When he and his wife, Joyce, started a family in the 1950's, my mother was ready to capture their four boys in oil on canvas. While she was at it, she did Joyce, too. She kept at it doing sketches when they came to visit.

Harrrison Sherwood Campbell ca. 1990

Joyce Macdonald Campbell

Bruce Macdonald Campbell

Alan Wands Campbell

Drew Harrison Campbell

Harrison Sherwood Campbell, Jr.

Sketch of Harrison Campbell

Sketch of Joyce Campbell

Sketch of Alan Campbell

Sketch of Bruce Campbell

1950's - Dobbs Ferry

It was crowded enough in the fourth floor walk-up tenement apartment (bathtub in the kitchen, toilet down the hall) at 1189 First Avenue. But when baby Marjorie arrived in 1952, something had to be done. My parents went to see the new development at Levittown, on Long Island, but it did not feel right to two such creative souls. What my father lacked in education he made up for in creativity. He and my mother collaborated on many projects and it was now that they embarked on their largest...designing and building their own home.

With Jon Nielsen, in Dobbs Ferry.

Dobbs Ferry had come to their attention because an artist friend, Jon Nielsen was living there with his wife and two boys. My parents found a site, with a majestic oak, on a dirt road, that took their fancy. With the help of an architect friend, John Glenn, they made their ideas into a workable plan. Janice executed a perfect scale model of the modern house on its hillside lot. On weekends for several years, Joe, Janice and a group of friends came up to the lot on Secor Drive, to build their dream home. Among his friends there seemed to be someone with each skill that was needed, from woodworker, to plasterer, to stone mason.

Our house at 11 Secor Drive before landscaping.

The site provided room for my mother to have a rock garden that terraced down from the patio in the front yard to the back, and there was a sunny spot behind the garage for vegetables. The two car garage, connected to the house by a breezeway, gave my dad room to work on cars, and the basement accomodated a large workshop for him, too. The high windows in the northwest corner of the bouse provided ideal lighting for Janice's painting studio.

A view of the house and garage taken from the air in the 1970's.

Baby Marjorie Alice Candela

Prize winning painting of Pittsburgh, PA. I believe she saw a photograph of this image, taken in 1949 by the team of photographers, John E Fletcher and Anthony B. Stewart,  in National Geographic.

Janice accepting the award at the Dobbs Ferry Women's club in 1954. The painting of Pittsburgh won first prize, and a painting of me took second place!

"Cookie" took second prize.

The frame was made of tin by my father and faux wood finished by Janice.

View of the Hudson Valley from a favorite spot in the Juhring Estate.

We were lucky to live by the broad and beautiful Hudson river.

Baby number three arrived in 1954, Nancy Sherwood Candela.

Cookie, Marjorie and Nancy

Nancy in the classic 1950's basket chair. dining room table behind her and some forsythia blossoms in a vase.
Still Life watercolor - 1950's style

The three of us girls with Punchy, our yellow cat.

Janice designed this bed/dresser/vanity. Joe made three of them. one for each of us girls. We had moved into the former master bedroom which was hardly large enough for three, but these beds made it possible. The north facing studio became the master bedroom and the studio was moved to the basement

A pensive portrait of Marjorie.

A fantasy of the three of us tree climbing. I always loved the way my mother laid the paint on so thick that the blossoms were truly three dimensional.



This sketch suggests that sisterly relations were not always harmonious.

A gorilla caught in a quick gesture.

As I child I was always attempting to draw horses. I would ask my mother to draw one to show me how to do it. She, of course, understood the underlying anatomy, something that cannot be faked.

Coats hanging by the kitchen door.

In 1959, we were thrilled to welcome my brother, Philip to the family.

American Portrait Artists

In 1948, Janice found an agent to supply her with paying portrait jobs. His name was John E. Zeltzer. I remember him as a courtly man with a neat grey mustache, and heavy black rimmed glasses. His company was American Portrait Artists. "A Co-operative Assocation of Over 100 Outstanding American Portrait Artists" was stated proudly on the letterhead. I suspect that number may have been somewhat of an overstatement, due to the variety of names my mother was asked to sign to her work!

The above ad ran in the Sunday New York Times Magazine Section. Apparently BYP (Brilliant Younger Painters) was an offshoot of American portrait Artists. This oil painting of me was done around 1959.


Mr. Zeltzer would send a note like the one above to Janice for each job. It would indicate the specifics, and include photographs and sometimes swatches to assist her. Most of the clients wanted near photographic reality in their portraits, and to this end, she would have photostatic blow ups of the photos made. After we moved to Dobbs Ferry, this often requierd a special trip into the city to pick up the "stat". Note the signature sample for her to sign to her work.



Occasionally, especially in the case of female clients, she was asked to "prettify" them. See below, the request for "glamour planes", whatever they were. She once did a portrait of the King of the Mardi Gras in full costume, and another one of an adult woman sitting on Santa's lap. Another female client requested that her neckline be lowered to just show one nipple peeking from her decollatage!

Notice the lead time on this one...only eleven days. It must have been wanted in time for Christmas.

Even though Janice was glad to have the work, the process was often a frustrating one. When she delivered the finshed painting to Mr. Zeltzer's apartment, she would bring her paints and brushes and, if he deemed it necessary, she would make adjustments on the spot under his watchful eye. If a client was not happy with the finished work, the typical complaint was that there was something about the mouth that was not right. The letter below must have been written about one of these particularly difficult customers. Apparently John Singer Sargent dealt with the same issues.

"Have a nice life!" ........click on letter above to enalrge

"Hair like French frosting"?!

"I know you will do something real nice".... Comments like that galled my mother no end. She always tried to "do something nice".

Another job. She got to sign her own name to this one.

Merry Christmas! Another infuriating note from Mr. Z. He did send us a box of Florida Grapefruit every year, and occsionally took us all out to dinner. In particular, a dinner at La Fonda del Sol in the mid 1960's, stands out as and exciting highlight. Dining out at a restaurant was not in the family budget as a rule.

Janice woked for Mr. Zeltzer until 1977. These jobs doubtless helped her through the difficult time making ends meet after my father died in 1968.

A Brush with Baez

A fan of many types of music, my mother had a special fondness for folk music, and Joan Baez, in particular. Janice had a subscription to TIME magazine and would read it daily over lunch. In 1962, TIME ran a cover story on Ms. Baez. Imagine my mother's surprise when she saw a photo of Dr. and Mrs. Baez at home with daughter Mimi. The painting on the wall behind them had a strangely familar look.

American Portrait Artists supplied my mother with a slide of every painting she did, to be used for reference on future assignments. She looked through her file, and there it was the painting she had done of Joan, some twelve years earlier! She had been to the Baez family home in New Jersy, I believe it was, to do the paintings from life, not the usual APA custom, and had enjoyed meeting the family, having, of course, no idea that this little girl would grow up to such prominence!

Joan Baez

Janice wrote to TIME:

At that time, she also did a painting of Joan's older sister, Pauline.

When Mrs Baez saw my mother's letter in Time, she sent the following note:

Mrs. Albert Baez
9 Rue Sedillot
Paris 7 France

Dear Miss Campbell---nay Mrs. Candela:

I had to say hello after all these years. And I had to tell you that those Pictures of Pauline + Joanie have been in the most prominent positions always in every house we’ve lived…and we have lived in many!

Pauline’s is on the other side of the room. We’ve always loved those pictures!

I hope you’re still doing more + more children…
As our Folk-singing Joanie sings (only in the bath-tub), “some cat’s got it + some cat’s ain’t.” I think you got it –

Very truly – Joan Baez (Sr)