Cameron O'Neal

THE HISTORY OF CAMERON O'NEAL

Cameron O'Neal was born at age 70.

In an earlier incarnation he was Roger Moore, a real estate and financial executive, who transformed himself into "Mzungu", fine-art photographer and photo-safari guide who led photographic safaris throughout Africa, the Amazon, North, Central and South America - locations worldwide. He wore a bear claw necklace (fashioned, in the style of the Haida Indians, by a gypsy known as "The Mushroom Man") and a maple burl bracelet (crafted by a famous British woodturner in British Columbia). He carried a machete in his knee-high snake boots. Mzungu created incredibly beautiful black and white landscape photographs (View: ).

When his seventh decade dawned Roger said, "Forget black and white!" It's time for color. I shall become a watercolorist!. I am now "Cameron O'Neal!" So named in honor of his mother and his wife's mother, a respectful appropriation of their maiden names.

Cameron's artistic inspiration was a sculptor/painter named Jelly who lived in a yurt in a pecan orchard in Cowboy Country - tiny Roaring Springs, Texas (population 225) . Cameron and Jelly talked almost daily. Jelly packed egg sandwiches (with Mrs. Baird's white bread & Miracle Whip) and ...

“She warped my mind … without my knowing it!”

That is, perhaps, why I am now a watercolorist.   My Mother made me do it!   She warped my mind, and I had no idea it was happening.  You see, my Mother was an artist.  An oil painter, a water color artist, a sculptor, a sketch artist … all with no formal training whatsoever.   She was a Certified Copiest at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC.  At the age of 64, with absolutely no business knowledge or experience, she decided to start her own business in Amarillo, Texas, that survived for almost 20 years –Thus Effie’s Arts & Crafts began.   She could do it all.   Was a great framer too.   All of this happened as I was growing up and I paid no attention whatsoever to what she was doing.   But, every day, in subtle ways, she would tell me things … basically, how to ‘see’ things.   She would say things like:  “It doesn’t matter what things are, only how they look.”

"Then She Died"

When my Mother, Effie Elizabeth Moore, died, our family came together to divide-up the fruits of my Mom’s labors.   Paintings.   Sketches.  Sculptures. Craft items.    It was everywhere.  Never before had I stepped back and realized all of what my Mom had do...

Cameron O'Neal is the pseudonym used by the professional photographer Roger Moore for his Lyrical Landscape watercolor paintings.

Roger Moore’s photography has been exhibited in the following venues:

The Karen Mitchell Frank Gallery – Dallas, TX
Trammell Crow Center – Dallas, TX
Anasazi Gallery – Dallas, TX
Afterimage Gallery – Dallas, TX
Art Works Gallery– Richardson, TX
The Dallas Arboretum – Dallas, TX
Kathleen’s Art Café – Dallas, TX
Red Dot Space – San Antonio, TX
Palo Duro Canyon Interpretive Center, Canyon, TX
Untitled: A Gallery – Amarillo, TX
The Archive Gallery – Amarillo, TX
Renaissance Art Studio – Lubbock, TX
Ken Young Studio -- Lubbock, TX
International Cultural Center Texas Tech University--
Lubbock, TX
International Art Lecture series in three universities--
Brazil
The Old School House Art Center-- Qualicum Beach, BC
Montana Gallery-- Santa Monica, CA
Weston Gallery-- Carmel, CA
Joy ArtGallery -- Durango, CO


Roger Moore’s photography is in the following permanent art collections:

The Brookings Institution – Washington, DC
GTE Corporation – Dallas, TX
NORTEL (Northern Telecom) – Los Colinas, TX
Real Trends Inc. – Denver, CO
The Promotion Network – New York
Fidelity I...