Panama and Costa Rica

 

Last year I started experimenting with accordion sketchbooks. On this sunny day in Panama,  I planted myself on the bow of the ship National Geographic Quest, got out my art supplies, and started in. Pen, watercolor, and white pencil.

All the land you see is national parks and protected jungles in a rain forest. The little island to the right is called Granito De Oro which means grain of gold. The island is a ‘one palm’ island with a yellow sand beach. After I finished painting, I took a Zodiak (powered inflatable invented by Jacques Cousteau) over to the island and did some drawings there too. It was crawling, literally, with hermit crabs.

On another day of our week’s expedition, we roamed around a botanical garden, Casa Orquideas, in Costa Rica that is carved out of the tropical jungle. It is for sale by the aging owners if you are interested. Here is a video of the pages in my sketchbook that I made while there.

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One morning I painted this bird sanctuary, Bona Island, from the comfort of the lounge area of the ship. After lunch, we got a naturalist-guided up close tour in a Zodiak. We went around the left hand side where multitudes of frigate birds were puffing out their red chests to impress the ladies. I also saw, at a distance, my first iguana.

And then, just around the corner from the protected land and the bird sanctuary, was this:  a massive line-up of ships getting ready to sail through the Panama Canal. And in the distance, Panama City with its skyline of tall, gleaming, white, residential highrises.

Our ship moored overnight halfway through the canal in a huge man-made lake. This is my very first drawing of a container ship. It was probably even longer than this, but it was moving fast so I drew fast.

We got to spend some time in Panama City, mostly walking from the shoreline park to the old town (Casco Viejo) The brick streets were narrow, which provided shade from the tropical sun. Our group stopped very briefly on this corner, the site of the ruins of a monastery and school. We saw lots of rebuilding of the old stone buildings in the area, and the main square looks grand again.

I drew this building, the Biomuseo, while on board the ship. Partially because it is a very colorful structure designed by Frank Gehry, and also I knew we would be visiting it the following day. In English, the name is the Biodiversity Museum. Panama as a land bridge erupted from the sea 15 million years ago, and changed animal migrations and sea currents, allowing species from the two continents to mix and interbreed.

Three objects from an archeological section of the museum. I like clay vessels that incorporate animal faces or bodies.

Panama, and specifically the San Blas Islands, is well known for a native art craft, the mola. It is an elaborate form of appliqué. Here, the blue is the bottom layer, with the deep red sewn on top of that. I believe the other colors are added in smaller areas on top. I learned that this type of art originally comes from designs painted on the body.The women sew two panels and attach one to the front of a blouse and the other to the back. This style is still the form of dress on the islands today.


I saw this block of colorful signs and shopfronts across the street from our hotel. I can’t resist this sort of melange of color, letters, words, and images. And it is very telling of a specific place and memory.

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