Acrylic still life of a fruit bowl by Ruby Campbell. The yellow bowl contains a lemon, an apple and what appears to be a tomato, but may be a different kind of fruit! A banana lies on the table beside the bowl. The signature RM CAMPBELL 1961 is at lower right of image.
Background

Ruby Martin Campbell began experimenting more with acrylic painting in the early 1960's, perhaps under the influence of her Great-nephew, Geoffrey Bardon, who was a keen artist and spent some of his University holidays staying at Kilburnie with Ruby, and painting acrylic and watercolour images of the Homestead.

Ruby's foray into Acrylics

As Ruby was very much a "lifelong learner" when it came to art, we are fairly sure that she did not begin experimenting with acrylic painting until the 1960s, when she was in her seventies.  She did not paint very many works in this medium; we have three finished pieces in the Kilburnie Homestead Collection, and two unsigned "practise paintings" that may have been forerunners to other works, or may simply have been to get the feel of the medium.  Some of her other acrylics are in the Gladstone Regional Gallery & Museum Collection.  Unlike her Great-nephew Geoffrey Bardon, who painted outdoor scenes of Kilburnie in acrylic, Ruby kept her works in this medium to still life themes.

News of the day

Acrylic Paintings Discovered at Kilburnie

Article from The Central Telegraph newspaper, 14th March 2014.

https://www.centraltelegraph.com.au/news/paintings-uncovered/2197662/

Additional image
Unsigned still life acrylic painting in blues and greens depicting a teacup and possibly an enamel water jug on a table topped by a blue cloth. A green pot-plant is in the background at the right of image.
Practise Acrylic, unsigned, probably by Ruby c.1960

 

 

 
 

 

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