Anolis Carolinensis - the Green Anole, Plein Air Painting, and Happiness
The other day while in Wilmington NC, I came across a green anole climbing a hand rail. In my experience, these small lizards are friendly and often downright curious. I am fascinated by their brilliant green coloration and have even seen them change colors from green to brown. It really is amazing what you can see when you stop to appreciate all of the little details that are right in front of you and painting enhances this ability. Anyway, seeing this little critter in Wilmington brought back a memory of painting in the woods of South Carolina a few years ago.
I was fortunate enough to have been given an Artist Residency at Poinsett State Park for a week in April in 2016. There were lots of fantastic things to slow down and observe and I dedicated a few days to just set off on trails until finding a place to paint. This kind of painting is called Plein Air. It comes from the French “en plein air” meaning “outdoors. Painting outdoors is full of challenges and the most prominent for many artists is the ever changing light. When you start in the morning and paint for 8 hours, the light has changed constantly for that time. Shadows move, patches of sunlight appear and disappear, colors change. But solving these problems makes us better artists and I am grateful for every moment I’ve spent painting in this style. I’m not just grateful for learning as an artist, but for what I’ve been able to observe during these sessions. A few of my most memorable plein air painting experiences include the breath-taking views while painting high above the valley at Yosemite National Park, being visited by a bear while painting in Shenandoah National Park, watching for an hour while a snake swallowed a fish along the Eno River in North Carolina, and being visited by a Green Anole while painting at Poinsett State Park in South Carolina.
This day as I painted my chosen Poinsett Park scene, a trail with dappled sunlight and Spanish moss swaying from overhead tree branches, a green anole caught my attention in the large shrubby tree next to my easel. He moved around slowly and had no fear of coming in my direction. Having no fear myself, we managed this way quite well as time went on and so did we. Eventually he came close enough that I picked up my camera to take some photos. In these situations I always have a camera ready to capture subjects for future paintings. I snapped a few photos and returned to my work, but kept the camera ready for additional photos. After a while, and to my surprise, he hopped from the branch on to my easel to inspect my set up more closely. The fact that I am writing about it four years later probably gives you some idea of how absolutely fantastic I find these moments. Rather than nature running away, it came to me. I live for little moments like these. He inspected my supplies and walked up and down the leg of the easel for a while before deciding he had seen enough and jumped back to the tree. By this point, my day was complete no matter the painting results.
But as luck would have it, I was as pleased with the painting as I was with the experience. The painting was sold and is hopefully bringing happiness to the people that view it. My happiness comes back to me every time I come across a Green Anole.
