ART
The Danguillecourt Project fills a special niche in the world of art, promoting 'scientifically-based' art that inspires and educates the public about the unique and fragile habitats that make the Bahamas so special. In fall 2009, we published our first book, “Islands of the Sun: a Tribute to the Northern Exuma Cays, Bahamas.”
This is a 448 page coffee table book, which tours the reader through the ecosystems of the central Bahamas, from the hilltops to the depths of the ocean. The book functions as an informative reference volume as well as a monumental work of art, with photography and painted illustrations bringing to life the unique and diverse plants and animals of the Exuma Cays.
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The culmination of a three-year effort, every chapter in ’Islands of the Sun’ features a different habitat, showcasing the wondrous and bizarre organisms that make their homes in this tropical island idyll. Remarkable colour photographs depict a range of life from orchids and rock iguanas to sea slugs and reef sharks. All in all, a total of 298 members of the flora and fauna are featured. Accompanying text informs the reader about these species, including their historical and cultural value as food or medicine. Every chapter opens with a two-page landscape painting of the selected habitat and its denizens. Each chapter additionally features a ‘special focus’ section dedicated to a plant or animal of particular interest specific to that habitat.
This is a landmark publication both from an artistic and a scientific point of view, as Bahamas-specific volumes are rare. Co-authored by two young Bahamians, John A. Thompson and Nikita Shiel-Rolle, the scope of the gorgeous imagery and informative text set this book apart- an unprecedented fusion of science and art guaranteed to fascinate and educate young and old alike.
The Danguillecourt Project has the longterm goal of supporting artists, and producing works of art that are educationally and environmentally inspired.
Selected pieces of our art are annotated below.
Orange Geiger
This is the orange Geiger Tree (Cordia sebestena), one of our showiest native trees. Found throughout the Bahamas it is resilient enough to grow on the smallest cays and is completely salt tolerant. It gets its name from a famous sea captain who introduced these trees to his garden on Key West. Many Bahamians know this tree as 'anaconda', which is a corruption of the name used by the native Lucayan Indians, 'anacahuita'. The large, sandpapery leaves of this tree have been used to scrub pots, and the bland white fruits may be eaten. Geiger trees often also support colonies of the Geiger tortoise beetle, which resemble tiny iridescent gems among the leaves of the tree.
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Ligmnum vitae
This is the national tree of the Bahamas, the Lignum Vitae (Guaiacum sanctum), in times past one of the most valuable trees in the world. It has the densest wood known at eighty pounds per cubic foot and sinks in water like iron. This heavy, resin-laden wood is also self-lubricating and was in great demand for propeller shafts and pulleys. A small, slow growing tree, it was also harvested as a medicinal wood, and used as a cure for everything from gout to syphilis. In fact, the name Lignum Vitae means "Tree of Life" in Latin. Today, Lignum Vitae is appreciated mostly for its beautiful blue-violet flowers and orange fruits.
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Buccaneer Palm
This palm is our only native feather-leaved palm (coconuts are actually introduced), the Buccaneer palm or Hog palm (Pseudophoenix sargentii). The common names refer to the use of the palm heart as survival fare for pirates and pigs respectively. Often Buccaneer palms have irregular swellings in the trunk, giving them a kinked or potbellied appearance. All parts of the palm are covered in a whitish wax to prevent dessication in their harsh coastal habitat. This palm genus is confined to the Caribbean region and has no close relatives among living palms. The abundant berries may contain one, two or three seeds in a thin crimson flesh that is an irritant to some people. Despite taking eighteen months to sprout, they make beautiful and hardy ornamentals.
These botanical illustrations are just three of a collection of over forty meticulously rendered plants of coastal regions of the Bahamas. Many of the more noticeable or exceptional trees, shrubs and vines growing in the cays are featured. It is hoped that the complete series of these prints will be accessible to schools, libraries and other institutions, where the series can be viewed in it's entirety.
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Some of John's 'snapshot' paintings
These are a series of small painted 'snapshots' intended to capture the Exumas from different perspectives and offer what John considers to be some of the nicest elements of each cay. The small scale of the photos allows them to be completed in the field in a few hours instead of battling the elements repeatedly for one painting. Blowing sand, abundant bugs, volatile squalls and merciless sun make for a challenging work environment. John hopes the complete collection allows for a 'virtual journey' through one of the most beautiful areas in a country full of stiff competition.
Below are some of the stories behind Nikitas images, which illustrate the challenges of nature photography! Often, especially when the subjects are mobile (or worse, airborne), a lot of sweaty effort is involved!
This is a rare butterfly. John and Nikita discovered a colony of these in Warderick Wells; this butterfly is so little known that it has no common name. It lives only in the Bahamas and some of Cuba's cays. The males are territorial and patrol small clearings in very dense scrub. While flying, they whir through light and shade with dizzying speed, and while not flying they alight flat against the underside of a leaf out of sight. These spectacular little creatures measure less than one inch across. In order to get this shot, it took days of chasing these tiny orange chips through thorny thickets in July heat. Once they found one, Nikita had to lay on the ground (sometimes sharp limestone), and try to photograph it while sweating into her eyes without frightening it into the undergrowth with the bulky camera, without aiming up at the sun. Of course, whether or not the subjects cooperated, there was always the hike back to our lodgings through the bush with all the camera gear.
These obliging fellows are newly born, probably sibling, Caribbean stingrays feeding in Banshee creek in Warderick Wells. Secure in their shallow, inaccessible home, they had no fear and Nikita had to be very careful positioning herself so she didn't crush one of them and provoke a painful sting. This photo is one where Nikita used our wide-angle amphibious housing- it is not two photos stitched together.
In order to cover as many species as possible, we had to match their hours. Here is a Regal Slipper Lobster out on the hunt at night. This photo was taken at Thunderball Rocks within sight of the Happy People Marina on Staniel Cay. We were lucky enough to choose to dive here coinciding with a flurry of swimming polychaete worms that were mesmerized by our lights. Our dive torches proved irresistible, and the worms tickled our faces, got caught in our hair, trapped in our swimsuits and sometimes panicked us by becoming trapped in an ear canal.
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