A House of One Room and Safe Places

Cameron Museum of Art Features Nature

There are two exhibits of nature-inspired art currently on display at the Cameron Museum of Art. The two artists have very different styles, but both choose to immerse themselves in nature as a starting point. They bring their observations back to us in the hope that seeing their interpretations will help us see and appreciate our connection to the natural world of which we are a part. Short videos that are part of the exhibit allow us to hear from the artists in their own words.

A House of One Room: Elizabeth Bradford

March 12 – October 17, 2021

Elizabeth Bradford is a painter and a writer who has revered nature since childhood. Through her work she explores the undeveloped natural world, depicting the complex patterns found in nature. She hopes her work will inspire a deeper appreciation of the untamed natural world and instill a sense of responsibility for its preservation.

Bradford records her hiking and camping experiences in photos and in the Monthly Archives on her website: “Backpacking is a little like business travel for me. I backpack to gather images for the next body of work. I also go to relax and recover from a world laden with trash of every kind—tons of single use plastic all generated in my lifetime, exhaust from cars, media born from mediocrity, trashy thinking built on greed and self-absorption. “Another reason is to experience, even if only for a couple of days, a life with very few possessions—all one’s necessities coming in at under 25 pounds, fitting neatly into a little bag on one’s back. We are turtles walking upright.” —from elizabethbradford.com This exhibition is made possible thanks to the generous underwriting of the Wells Fargo Foundation.

Safe Places: Robert Johnson

February 7 – August 1, 2021

by Valerie Robertson

“I hope people seeing Safe Places will understand what an ecologically diverse state we live in. I hope they will feel inspired to go hike the trails in our parks with an observant eye. The more people get out to see the beauty of these areas the more they are likely to care for state parks and will want to preserve what is left of the natural environment.” —Robert Johnson

There are 41 North Carolina State Parks, and three years ago self-taught artist Robert Johnson set out to reside and work on site in all of them, documenting and interpreting the landscapes, flora and fauna represented in each. His Safe Places exhibition is the premier of the more than 100 artworks he created. The exhibit includes large-scale paintings as well as journal pages, sketches and annotated field observations of the flora and fauna he studied in each location.

The paintings are stylized and colorful, and yet the individual elements so realistically depicted the viewer can identify the species represented. The arrangements of the scenes are playful and varied; in some, multiple views appear in different quadrants rather than as an uninterrupted landscape.

Where he saw an abundance of plants, sometimes he would paint a profusion of them, and other times he would express them as a rhythmic pattern, wallpaper-like. Springtime snowflakes over Mt. Mitchell; grasses dotting a mound.

Johnson’s sketches and nature journal pages are exquisite studies from the field: he draws them first, then colors them in. He carefully researches what he finds, to learn the identity and habits of each.

Usually when I see beautiful vines or other plants in a painting, I can enjoy their beauty but have no idea whether they are realistic or a creation of the artist’s imagination. As I enter this exhibit, some of the first works I see are of parks in the eastern part of the state, including Carolina Beach State Park and Ft. Fisher Recreational Area. To my delight, I realize many plants (and birds) look familiar rather than just pretty, and in some cases I even know their names. I notice a lovely rendition of partridgeberry (mitchella repens). Hours earlier I’d made a plant label and stuck it in the ground to identify the partridgeberry growing in my own front yard.

I see damselflies and swallowtails. Least terns, sandpipers, and grackles. Post oak, turkey oak, long leaf pines. Venus flytraps, pitcher plants, and a Southern cricket frog. I feel an unaccustomed personal connection to what I am seeing.

The decision to have a park ranger give one of the tours of this exhibit was inspired. Park Superintendent Chris Helms has worked in several NC state parks over his 30-year career. He now works at Carolina Beach State Park—he loves its biodiversity. Another docent might discuss the artist’s style. Helms points out the fox squirrel, and tells us something about how it behaves. He walks us through some of the places he knows and loves, explaining how the water cascades down the hill, or the view we will see if we cross the creek or crest the hill to see what is beyond the painting’s edge.

Robert Johnson’s work kindled in me a desire to get acquainted with all the parks in North Carolina, and renewed my resolve to argue for conservation of what wild places still exist in this biodiversity hotspot that is Southeastern North Carolina.

Exhibition sponsored in part by Blue Spiral 1 Gallery, Asheviile, North Carolina, where “Safe Places” will be displayed Sept. 3–Oct. 29, 2021. Learn more at robertjohnsonpaintings.com.

Cameron Art Museum

3201 South 17th Street Wilmington, NC 28412 Tuesday–Sunday 10 a.m.–5 p.m. Thursdays–Open late until 9 p.m.