November 2010 Issue

Local Artist Defies Odds
Vintage Travel Trailer Art Earns Fame

By Timna Rutledge

Paige Bridges


Vintage Christmas by Paige Bridges

Odds were, artist Paige Bridges, would not survive long after being placed on oxygen and battling breast cancer that had already taken its toll on her body and left her with a ruthless cough, as the disease compromised her lungs. Art students and other friends and relatives had already come to tell her good-bye, when things took a turn for the better.

Paige is married to Pastor David Bridges of Followers of Christ Church in Wills Point, and she trusted God and had peace about where she would spend eternity. She took comfort in the story of Hezekiah and in the words of someone at church who said they believed the Lord wanted her to know that the illness would not lead to death.

Having refused traditional treatments, Paige miraculously survived stage four breast cancer and is living to tell people about it, as she continues sharing her artistic talent around the world, via the internet and other outlets.

Among other venues in advertising and promotion of framed masterpieces, she contracts with such companies as Current, to market everything from postcards to calendars and checkbook covers.

Her workshop and studio are situated within her modest 4,000 square foot home, a remodeled former bait shop and restaurant near Lake Tawakoni. Paige can work at her leisure sketching, painting and using pastels. Most of her drawings are rendered from tracing paper onto cold-pressed illustration board in milk-based casein paint.

The vintage travel trailer art that made her famous, was inspired by Paige and David’s first few trips to Colorado in 1998. Wanting to find a more economical way to travel, Paige suggested buying a Recreational Vehicle (RV). Once they did, they fell in love with RV travel; and by 2003 Paige discovered an untapped market painting vintage canned ham campers and old woody station wagons for starters. Many RV travelers have purchased Paige’s artwork to decorate their homes on wheels. Others have commissioned her to create masterpieces to their own specific tastes.

Current has commissioned Paige to design vintage travel trailer art calendars since 2008. She is now working on the calendar for 2013. And, Paige was the first RV artist represented at the Texarkana KOA  RV Park Gallery. 

“My favorite painter of all times is Norman Rockwell,” declared the artist whose love affair with art began at just nine years old, when Paige took her first art lessons.  “I thought I’d end up as a teacher (in school), but I’ve always taught from home without any regret.”

When asked about her primary inspiration, Paige answered, “God’s handiwork inspires me… I love outside… I love nature more than anything.” Then she confessed, “And, there’s just something about those little canned hams (RVs) that’s so darned cute!” In fact, all of her vintage travel trailer art are set in beautiful outdoor surroundings.

In discussing how her battle with breast cancer has affected her life and her art, Paige referred to a published interview between Paul Bradshaw and Rick Warren, pastor and author of  “Purpose Driven Life,” whose wife is also battling cancer.

Scenic Overlook by Paige Bridges

Warren referred to the instant success, wealth and notoriety he gained when his book sold 15million copies. He chose not to change his style of living and made no major purchases. Instead, he stopped taking a salary from Saddleback Church in California, where he pastors. He added up all the money the church had paid him the 24 years he’d been there, and paid it back. Warren then set up foundations to fund an initiative called, The Peace Plan. The purpose of this initiative is to plant churches, equip leaders, assist the poor, care for the sick, and educate the next generation.

Warren said, “We need to ask ourselves: Am I going to live for possessions? Popularity? Am I going to be driven by pressures? Guilt? Bitterness? Materialism? Or am I going to be driven by God’s purposes (for my life)? When I get up in the morning, I sit on the side of my bed and say, God, if I don’t get anything else done today, I want to know You more and love You better. God didn’t put me on earth just to fulfill a to-do list. He’s more interested in what I am, than what I do. That’s why we’re called human beings, not human doings.”

To contact Paige visit her web site at http://www.vintagetraveltrailerart.com.