This is a Southern Tree Agama, known in Afrikaans as the Bloukopkoggelmander, bloukop for short or blue-headed lizard. 

The parting words of the old lady who sold this house to us were “welcome to the Lizard house”. She left two metal lizards hanging on the wall outside the front door for us.

As we settled into our new home, it became evident why she had welcomed us the way she did. We have a resident lizard or gecko in almost every corner of our home and garden. They are territorial little things. We’ve spent many hours sitting on our blue couch looking up at the ceiling as Gecko Of The Screen and his two friends compete for whatever flies or crawls into their space. Sometimes a bite or a hiss if they threaten each other’s dinner. They stalk their prey in slow motion, with a perfect mini crocodile belly crawl. 

Gecko of the screen is resistant to our security screen that shows the gate. If you stay till after dark, you may be lucky enough to see him appear for his evening hunt. He comes out every night, and that screen is his home. 

Lizards are textured creatures, and I wanted this painting to be tactile and as scaly as a bloukop is in real life.