Check Out Scramble Campbell’s Story

Today we’d like to introduce you to Scramble Campbell.  

Hi Scramble, so excited to have you on the platform. So, before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?

Greetings Art & Music Lovers. My name is Scramble Campbell. I am a Live Music Painter. I bring my easel and paints to the show with a blank canvas and dance and groove with a paintbrush in my hand. “Live Music Painting” is a form of visual performance art in which an artist completes a visual art piece during a public performance: at a live music concert, in an amphitheater, arena, bar, fair, festival, hall, or music venue.

For over 30 years I have been a conduit of the music scene, capturing the night’s performance on canvas in real time with the show. I create a moment in time, collaborating music with live art.

I moved to Denver in 2004 from Central Florida. My wife and artist Shay Berry Campbell and I have been together since 1996, traveling thousands of miles, painting thousands of canvases, and creating art. We started traveling to Colorado in the summer of 2000. Our first stop was Red Rocks for Widespread Panic and it was love at first sight. That summer tour we drove ourselves, with our loyal dog Mc Grupp, over 37,000 miles, crisscrossing the US one painting at a time.

We went to all kinds of music venues and festivals, as well as many National Parks along the way. After that tour, our passion and destiny collided. Our goals shifted with clarity and we had to ask ourselves some questions about how to reach our new goals: how do we move to Colorado and how can my art be a visual part of the heritage and fabric of Red Rocks Park?

In the 22 years since that road trip, I have painted over 550 Live Paintings at different Red Rocks concerts. There is no place like Red Rocks. It stores Greatness and Magic. It is my honor and privilege to be the Red Rocks Artist.

I’ve also been painting the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival for over 25 years. Some of my other favorite venues to paint are the Greek Theatre, The Beacon Theatre, Oak Mountain, and Mt. Shasta. Now, my paintings take me all over the world. I have painted live in Paris, Barcelona, Lisbon, Rome, Vancouver, and Mexico City.

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?

Yes, A relativity a smooth road making my own path.

Showing up to a concert in paint-splattered clothes with a giant canvas is not normal. Painting in the dark with flashing colors is challenging, especially when your subject is also moving and sometimes changes wardrobe. You have to have an easel and a light as well as water to clean your brushes, and if you don’t use a drop cloth, you will never be invited back. People run across you and see your art at a place they’re not expecting to see live art. I am happy to say that has changed over the years. Then there is the weather: rain, snow, and the wind all make some nights very challenging, believe me. Keeping the art fresh night after night. Creating in the same place or painting the same band night after night. You have to make the art different each time or it feels stale. I put my artistic expression out there every time I set up my easel and paint, just like the musicians I paint express themselves on stage. Overcoming those challenges is what can make or break you.

It is wonderful taking your art into your own hands. Self-representation is the modern way. Remember, there was no internet when I started in 1991.

There has been a history of live music painters dating back to Degas in the 1880’s. In modern times, the late greats: Lee Roy Neiman, Denny Dent and Bob Ross, have all been all inspirations to me.
I did my own thing; I took my passion of art and my passion and love of live music and Scrambled them together.
I’m not only drawn to the subject matter and music, but their business model as well. I was showing my art in bars, clubs, and festivals to get my message out.

That is the road I chose as my path. The path has now gotten easier over the years. At first the bands, viewers, promoters, management really did not know what to think and where to put the dancing painter. Luckily, they liked it, and I have developed relationships with most of them.

My whole life, all I ever wanted is to create art for a living. I have found a way. Eye love the life we live.

Affirmations:

Believe in yourself.

Embrace people that believe, support, and embrace you and what you are trying to create.

Live your passion.

Make your own way as an artist.

Tell and create your story in your art.

Make a difference.

Follow your dreams, set goals and your dreams become your reality.

Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
The passion has been the same over the years. Bring the art to the people. Not just the art itself, but the creation of the art. Have you ever seen a painting on a wall and said, “I was there watching them paint that painting!” I know you might be thinking that watching paint dry is not interesting, but dancing to music and making art with your whole body is entertaining. Artist Denny Dent would call it a “Dance on Canvas”.
That is what sets me apart from others. I’m not looking for a new gig.

What sort of changes are you expecting over the next 5-10 years?

Interested in seeing my art in person? My 17th annual Art Experience is happening again this year at the Red Rocks Park Visitors Center in the Art of Rock Theatre Room, May 25th – June 26th.

We also sell our art merchandise year-round at the Red Rocks Visitors Center and Trading Post gift shops.

If you would like to browse through thousands of paintings, check out my website: www.scramblecampbell.com. We offer original paintings, posters, and limited-edition prints.

Contact Info:

• Email: scramble@scramblecampbell.com
• Website: www.ScrambleCampbell.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/scramblecampbellart/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100057794104102 

Image Credits
Linda Riggle
Berry Campbell
Jim Mimnz
Nancy Isaac
Rhonda Goostree