Curated Treasures
STEVE CAMPS (b.1957) - Original Oil Painting "Race to the Fish"
STEVE CAMPS (b.1957) - Original Oil Painting "Race to the Fish"
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Artist: Steve Camps
Title: Race to the fish
Medium: Oil on board
Edition: Original, One of a kind
Artwork Dimensions: 49cm x 39cm (20" x 16")
Frame Dimensions: 60cm x 50cm (24" x 16")
Condition: New, mounting hardware not included
Gallery Price: £1,500 for similar sized originals
About the artwork
This whimsical coastal illustration by Steve Camps, titled Race to the Fish, captures a playful maritime moment with bold charm and childlike imagination. Two large black whales with toothy red grins dominate the blue sea, flanking a jaunty fishing boat with a yellow cabin and striped hull as it speeds toward its unseen quarry. A red-and-white lighthouse stands sentinel nearby, its golden top gleaming like a beacon of cheer. In the top left corner, a green headland curls into view, dotted with two stylised houses and a winding road that hints at life beyond the shore. Camps’ signature “S CamPS” anchors the composition, affirming his distinctive style—naïve yet knowing, vibrant yet serene. The scene evokes a sense of joyful urgency, as if the boat and whales are locked in a friendly race beneath a sunlit sky.
About the Artist
Steve Camps is a contemporary Cornish painter whose work radiates a warm, narrative‑driven affection for the coast, blending naïve stylisation with a quietly sophisticated sense of composition. Born in 1957, he has spent much of his life immersed in the rhythms, folklore, and visual language of Cornwall’s harbours and headlands, and this deep familiarity infuses his paintings with an authenticity that feels lived rather than observed. Camps favours bold, saturated colour and simplified, almost sculptural forms, creating scenes that hover between illustration and fine art, where whales grin, boats bustle, and lighthouses stand like cheerful guardians of the shore. His imagery often carries a gentle humour—never forced, always affectionate—suggesting small stories unfolding beneath the surface: a race, a chase, a moment of seaside mischief. Though playful, his work is far from simplistic; the balance of shape, rhythm, and negative space reveals an artist who understands how to orchestrate visual harmony. Regularly appearing in regional galleries and auctions, Camps has built a loyal following among collectors who appreciate his ability to capture the spirit of coastal life with both charm and clarity, offering paintings that feel at once nostalgic, contemporary, and unmistakably his own.
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