Cam Vas: The Painting That Changed My Life

Have you ever walked through the aisles of a warehouse store like Costco or Sam's Club and wondered who would buy a jar of mustard a foot and a half tall? We've bought it, but it didn't stop us from wondering about other things, like absurd eating contests, impulse buys, excess, unimagined uses for mustard, storage, preservatives, notions of bigness…and dozens of other ideas both silly and serious. Write an essay somehow inspired by super-huge mustard.

–Based on a suggestion by Katherine Gold of Cherry Hill High School East, Cherry Hill, NJ (2004–2005)

I am an artist. I have many famous paintings. Some you may know, some you may not. I have been painting since I was 6 years old. I am now 48. My name, Cam Vas. When I start a new series I try

to find inspiration in the people I see in the great town of Springfield, Oklahoma.
Recently I have been finding it hard to find inspiration in the people.

So I started finding it in the town itself. We are only a town of 1,349 people, so as you can imagine that inspiration ran out fast. I started going into stores trying to find inspiration in still life. It was working for a while, but then another problem sprouted. I couldn’t afford paint anymore. I could hardly afford food for myself or my fish.

That’s when it hit. The my most creative and innovative series yet. I was walking shopping at Costco when it hit. I was down isle 6, the condiment isle, when I saw it. A giant foot and a half tall jar of mustard. I thought to myself “that would work as paint”. Then I saw a jar of ketchup the same size. Then relish, then mayo, then bar-b-que sauce. I had two of the three primary colors, I could almost make any color I could possibly need. In giant whole sales sized containers.

The colors mixed perfectly, I had every shade of red, yellow, and orange anyone could ask for. I just needed something that would be blue. I went back to Costco and searched and searched but I couldn’t find anything blue. Then I walked down the baking isle, isle 8, and I found giant gallon sized jugs of food coloring. And I had the idea to mix blue food coloring with mayo. Then I had it. All three primary colors. Now I could paint any shade of green or purple I would need, and I would never run out because I had a jar of each bigger than my

head.
Next I needed something to paint. I thought since I’m painting with food why not paint food. I started out with a hotdog, because it would be authentic with the ketchup, mustard, and relish. It was coming out fabulously. Once I was finished I went to bed, letting my masterpiece dry. When I woke up the next day it wasn’t how I left it, it was more perfect than I thought it would be. The colors dried and cracked. The color was matte and desaturated, which wasn’t what I was going for but it added an emotional element that I didn’t know a hotdog could convey.
I started painting like crazy. I was probably making a painting a day for about 3 months. This was the best and longest series I have ever made. I had hotdogs, hamburgers, vegetables, fruit, steak; any food you can think of, I probably painted it.
Once my collection was at 90 or so and my supplies were only two thirds gone, I started trying to sell them. I called people I have sold to in the past, I called museum art curators, I even went to art fairs and craft shows. I was telling anyone who would listen what makes these so unique. People were fascinated by them. They were selling like nothing I’ve sold before. I was down to my last 18 within 5 weeks. That’s when the Museum of Contemporary Art in Atlanta called and asked how many I had left. They ended up buying the rest and told me they would buy any more I make. I decided that 90 food paintings made of condiments was enough. After I sold the remaining paintings to the museum I decided that these paintings were the peak in my career, so I sold them I retired and just painted on the side for my friends and family. Once I had stopped selling I started teaching art lessons at the community center so other people could come up with a crazy concept and add their mark on the world.