Photographic accents

Newport Beach resident born in Paris opens her home to show her art.There’s no curtain to raise on Evelyn Morris’ art exhibition, so the singer-turned-photographer will have to stick to what’s available -- a garage door.

When it opens Saturday night, guests will walk into a carport filled with framed artwork that, as Morris says, “has a French flair.”

Morris, a native Parisian, has all the subjects one would expect in a French photography catalog. There’s the Eiffel Tower; a snowy, romantic balcony scene; and what she calls “Paris View from Sacre Coeur.”

Though Morris has been a professional photographer for less than two years, she doesn’t lack confidence in her work.

“I have 20-20 vision,” Morris says in a thick French accent. “When you have something to offer, you have to use it. I have ambition.”

And she is also impulsive. Her Eiffel Tower photograph was taken at 2 a.m. Morris said there are times when she is riding in a cab in France and asks the driver to pull over so she can take an impromptu picture.

Morris said she takes only one shot per subject and that she knows immediately what is going to make a good composition.

“It always comes out how I want,” Morris said.

She has won awards at local art shows and has been a featured artist at the Orange County Fair.

Morris, who moved to Newport Beach in 1971, comes from a family of artists. In her previous career, she was a French Grammy award-winning singer who specialized in love songs and went by the name Carline.

After visiting with members of the Huntington Beach Art League, she said she was inspired to get involved in photography.

Beginning at 7 p.m. on Saturday, Morris is inviting friends and artists to her Newport Beach home to see 60 of her photographs. They are scattered throughout her home, from her living room to the garage. And she is selling them for a few hundred dollars apiece.

“It’s her subject matter that’s unusual,” said Jackie Dvorman, a Huntington Beach Art League board member.

Not all of the subjects are French. She has pictures of Lombard Street in San Francisco, a portrait of a cat curled up on a carpet, and plenty of flower photographs.

“I hate to sell them,” she said. “It’s like losing a child.”

Louis LaCroix, president of the Huntington Beach Art League, presented his photographs alongside Morris earlier this year.

“Her scenic shots of Paris are very well done and interesting,” he said. “She sees something interesting and acts on it.”

Morris said phone reservations are necessary for visitors who want to see the exhibition. And those who call will hear her signature greeting: “Hello. Hello. Hello. Hello,” spoken, almost sung, in her French accent.

IF YOU GO

For information on the opening or to set up an appointment to see the collection, call (949) 642-1941 or visit www.artinphotography.biz.20051216irkjuvncWENDI KAMINSKI / DAILY PILOT(LA)Newport Beach resident, Evelyn Morris, poses with her “Photography with a French Flair” artwork in her gallery located in her garage.