When I think of artists, such names as Monet, Michelangelo, and Renoir come to mind. I could never imagine, in my wildest dreams, that an elephant could also be an artist. I recently learned that it is not only possible but a reality that some elephants do paint pictures. This was recently made known to me by Bill and Louise Bailey who own a piece of artwork produced by an elephant.
I have known the Baileys son, Dr. Mark Bailey, since he was a child. Dr. Bailey is a neurologist who practices in Birmingham, Alabama. He has always had an inquiring mind, and although he has traveled extensively, this past July he decided to do something a little more unusual and traveled to Thailand with his wife Karen and two daughters, Allison and Katherine.
During the ten days, the Baileys spent in Thailand, they visited Bangkok and made several side trips to places of interest around the country. One of the most unusual places they visited was the Maesa Elephant Camp located in the northern region of the country. Elephants are quite common in Thailand, and although they are most often used as working animals, particularly in the logging industry, the elephants at the Maesa Elephant Camp provide entertainment for the visitors by exhibiting their unusual talent as artists.
Dr. Bailey grew up in a family in which art is appreciated, his mother Louise Bailey being an accomplished artist in her own right. Mark enjoyed watching his mother as she painted or created some special artistic piece, so at the Elephant Camp, he took a special interest in the pictures the elephants painted and how this was accomplished. After watching the elephants at work for some time, Mark purchased a video to bring home to his mother and father so they could actually see the elephants painting. Each elephant had a trainer or keeper who stood nearby as the elephant painted.
The elephant held the paint brush in the end of his trunk. The brush looked like an ordinary paint brush with one exception. Each brush had a cross piece attached to the handle. This cross piece made it possible for the elephant to hold the brush securely in the end of his trunk.
The paintings which the elephants did were not realistic; neither were they abstract. Most of their paintings were representative of the brightly-colored flowers that are native to Thailand. There is great variety in the paintings, each one being different and with an appeal of its own.
It is uncanny and almost unbelievable to observe these elephants using a paint brush and actually producing a lovely piece of artwork. The elephant's trainer first dips the brush into a container of black paint and places it in the elephant's trunk. Using the strong muscles in his trunk, the elephant moves the brush on the canvas to create stems for the flowers. Then the brush is changed, and elephant applies leaves along the steams. Lastly, bright red, yellow or blue paint is applied to complete these compelling pictures of flowers.
Around the compound where the elephants paint are giant ceramic pots containing the actual flowers the elephants paint. One would think the elephant had somehow learned to copy the flowers, but this is not the case because they learn by rote.
The elephants are not natural artists; they must be taught to paint. The fact that elephants are naturally inquisitive is an aid in teaching them to paint. The elephant's trunk is a versatile appendage, and elephants will often pick up sticks or broken branches with their trunks and make marks on the ground. Therefore, they can be taught to hold a paint brush. Each elephant has a keeper who, through a series of commands and touches, directs the elephant in the painting of a finished piece.
The elephant is to Thailand what heavy machinery is to the United States. There are approximately 3,000 domesticated elephants in the country. One of the most gifted elephant painters is a female named Sao. She was formerly owned by a timber company and was used to haul teak logs out of the rain forest.
Since the late 1980s, deforestation and anti-logging laws have left many domesticated elephants both homeless and jobless. Among the new jobs elephants are being trained to do is that of painting pictures and performing for visitors.
As difficult as this might be to comprehend, it seems that elephants in different locations in Thailand paint in a style all their own. Those in the north use big brush strokes. In the central area, the elephants use darker colors, and in the south the elephants like bright colors and will paint more readily when bright colors are put before them.
It is true that the world is full of wonderful things. One has only to travel in order to discover such things as boats made of reeds in Egypt, people who jump off mountain tops while parasailing in Switzerland, and elephants who produce artwork in Thailand, one of which now hangs in the home of Bill and Louise Bailey in Decatur.
I think it would be safe to say it is the only such painting in Newton County.
