"Learning to Look"

by Greg Wagner

Ptown Scene

July 23, 1998

"It was a strange Spring," Chuck remembers, "and in June, I was initially put off by the bad weather. When it continued, I decided to try painting it. It was more of a challenge to find the colors, but they were there." The results reveal images of Provincetown and its environs which are perhaps more familiar to year rounders than these bright sunny days of summer. Also portrayed are the equally spectacular-if moodier-gray days when Pilgrim Monument seems to vanish entirely from it place on High Pole Hill.

That Ptown has many faces is a lesson Chuck has learned over the years. "When I first visited, in 1972, this was a place to party and have fun. I knew nothing of the town's art history." As the 70's became the 80's, Anzalone, a graphic designer, found his art training and talents somewhat usurped by the rise in popularity of computers and design software. He learned of The Cape Cod School of Art and signed up for a class with Lois Griffel-This is when he began to learn about Provincetown as an artist's community. A city environment just doesn't encourage that."

Over the years, Chuck has taken many workshops at CCSA, learning about impressionism-the style he's painted in for the past five years. 'The Cape School is an exciting place," he explains, "because of its direct links to the history of art, to the history of Provincetown." Founded in 1899 by American Impressionist artist Charles Hawthorne, The Cape Cod School of Art was the first outdoor art school in the United States. Chuck looks forward to the institution's centennial celebrations in 1999.

Addressing comments from uneducated art patrons who suggest that impressionists "make up" the many colors that appear in their work, Chuck quotes the title of a textbook from his years as a student at the Art Institute of Boston, Learning to Look. "The colors are there. The point of impressionism is to capture the effect of light on your subject. It's a matter of training yourself to see them."

Having made the transition to Provincetown year-rounder three and half years ago, Chuck celebrates his fourth Ptown summer balancing painting and graphic design work with his duties as co-owner of Admiral's Landing Guest House. No wonder his paint is still drying. When not advising guests on the best time to show up at Tea Dance, or the place to have dinner, Chuck can often be found painting - just about anywhere on the Outer Cape.

Please visit the Lyman-Eyer Gallery or email: lymaneyer@aol.com for more information.