Playing & Painting in the Caribbean

Traveling, painting and photography are among my biggest passions, and I love it when I have the opportunity to do them all at the same time!

Having just returned home from our annual family vacation in the US Virgin Islands in the beautiful Caribbean, I thought I’d share a few pictures and facts I have learned from my time there.

Normally, there are only two seasons in the Caribbean – dry and rainy seasons. The dry season usually lasts from roughly December to May and it is very hot, breezy and even dusty. After that, from June to November is the rainy, hurricane season. I am not complaining, but we really did experience unseasonably wet weather during our two week visit.
Most of my plein air painting was executed from the shelter of a grape-leaf tree or a covered balcony.

The US Virgin Islands boarder between the Caribbean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean. While on his voyage to the Indies, Christopher Columbus landed on this region and named them the West Indies. The name Caribbean comes from the American Indian tribe, the Carib Indians, who originally inhabited the islands.

caribbean painting — ©2012 LMcNee, “A Day in Paradise”

For this trip I packed very light for my plein air painting. For my pochade box, I brought my EASyL Lite box, tripod, 3 paintbrushes, palette knife, medium, and water soluble oil paints (titanium white, cad yellow light, cad red light, ultramarine blue, cerulean blue, burnt sienna, alizarin crimson).

Today, roughly 2% of the Caribbean Islands are inhabited. Most residents are descendants of African slaves who were brought to work the sugarcane plantations. Once slavery was abolished in 1848, most decided to stay in the paradise-like conditions. You can see the rich, diverse and colorful Caribbean culture reflected in the architecture, music, clothing and even the amazing fruit stands!

I especially love to photograph the old doors and windows…

old caribbean door

The arts have flourished in the Caribbean Islands since the 1900s, and have especially grown since the end of World War II in 1945. I enjoyed visiting with this local artist who was sketching underneath the shade of a grape-leaf tree. Did you know that Camille Pissarro , the famous Impressionist was born in the Virgin Islands on St. Thomas?

Flora and fauna are in abundance, you just need to take the time to look. I enjoyed taking pictures of the primitive and colorful looking iguanas. Iguanas become rather friendly, especially now that they are protected on in the USVI.. even so, the locals told me they, “taste like chicken”!

I found this wading egret looking for his lunch within an old mangrove preserve.

Theses wild bananas were hanging outside my room! Many beautiful flowers and fruits make their home here like the mango, papaya, orange, banana, guava, pineapple, tamarind and even watermelon

This little bananaquit songbird hit the window in the hotel lobby. I was happy to revive and release him back into paradise!

The Rolex Regatta sailboat race was right out from our beach in the Great Bay where Black Beard the Pirate once sailed…

After two weeks of snorkeling, sailing, playing and painting with my family and friends in the Caribbean, I am ready to get back to my ‘normal’ busy life. It was great for me to unwind, adopt the island life, and for me to ‘unplug’ from the Internet! I hope you enjoyed this mini-vacation…where do you like to vacation?