ABOUT
Cara Campbell holds a BA in history from LSE, a diploma in ancient mural techniques from the Laboratorio per affresco di Vainella and an MA distinction in contemporary craft from HCA. She also trained as a stucco modeller, reproducing the fire damaged ceilings of Windsor castle as part of the award winning St Blaise team.
Over 30 years she has become an expert in 2 and 3d lime techniques and associated red list crafts. Her work has evolved from heritage restoration projects for the National trust and English heritage to contemporary art works, combining her skills uniquely for private clients and designers in site specific commissions for wall paintings, ceiling designs, mirrors, monuments and hand papered wall paper. Her clients include BOS studios at Claridges, HM Elizabeth II, the Hauser-Wirths at Bruton and Christopher Gibbs.
Cara also maintains a studio practice, easel painting on fresco panels, picking and painting her botanical subjects stem by stem. She has exhibited in Florence, Melbourne and London, most recently at Messums London in 2024 and Messums West in 2025. Her paintings, described by Frank Auerbach as “full of feeling for the plants…tenderness and empathy” are held in public and private collections internationally.
Cara’s art aims to recover the fragile, ethereal beauty of nature, through intensely rendered depictions of flora and fauna. Using pure pigment and egg tempera on plaster, she creates luminously coloured, hyper-real, yet imaginatively configured assemblies of nature, apprehended through a uniquely personal vision…
“I love the timeless quality of natural materials in ancient techniques: A vivid colour spectrum on smooth, absorbent plaster and the pure white of sculptural stucco are perfect partners for me. They enable me to highlight the exquisite beauty and symbolism of the natural world and explore philosophical meaning in our shared transcience”.
For information about on site commissions or fresco panels please use the contact page.
FRESCO →
‘Buon fresco’ describes painting on lime plaster before it has ‘gone off’ or hardened. Pure pigments become sealed in lime crystals, preserving a vivid colour spectrum on a matt surface that is colour fast and withstands water. Lime also captures carbon, absorbs humidity and allows a building to breathe, making it an ideal wall covering. Detail can be added with egg tempera or stucco.
SGRAFFITO →
Sgraffito is plaster etching. While still damp, pigmented or plain lime plaster is painted with a layer of lime putty in a contrasting colour which can then be scratched off to reveal a dramatic design. Popular in renaissance Florence on external walls, it is hard wearing and textured. Ideal in drier climates, it is also used by pargetters in Suffolk and in semi-covered outdoor spaces anywhere. Sgraffito combines well with stucco.
STUCCO →
Used by the Romans, stucco is made from lime putty and marble dust (or sand) to form sculptural relief on interior or exterior walls. This hand modelled plaster work can be applied to exposed walls or combined with fresco and sgraffito techniques to capture carbon and allow the building to breathe.
ALTARPIECES →
In May 2024 Cara received a Qest scholarship to expand her practice into wood carving, gesso and gilding. Painting on gessoed wood panels with egg tempera and framing them with carved and gilded wood, she intends to make medieval style altarpieces dedicated to nature. These will be on show in November 2025 and available to commission.
INSTALLATIONS →
Site specific combinations of fresco, stucco, wood carving and gilding with more modern casting methods to create immersive room installations for private clients and public spaces. Using natural, sustainable and carbon capturing materials to honour the natural world. Available to commission from 2025.
WALLPAPER →
Hand painted on soft distempered paper with ink. The examples shown are from Harrock hall where a chinoserie theme of birds and flowers was painted in situ. Bespoke digital designs can also be commissioned from a library of Cara’s high resolution fresco images. Through a collaboration with rockpaperhouse.com repeat pattern fern wall papers are also available.
