Panama & Suez Canal 2005

Mira Flores Locks , Panama Canal

Due to the Panama Canal having a lot of heavy security along its length, the best views are at a few designated places. 'Mira Flores Locks' is one such viewing point. Tourists arrive by coach load, but rarely stay longer than an hour, because the view gets a bit repetitive - one big tanker after another.

I was most impressed by the use of the water its self, raising and dropping tankers weighing thousands of tons in less than 10 minutes. This is the reason why I have paid special attention to the colour of the water to give it the most importance.

It cost this tanker $170 thousand dollars for passage through the canal, and, still it was going to make a saving. She is of Panamex design, which means, it was especially built to pass through the Panama Canal, with barely a foot to spare on either side.

Acrylic on canvas, 90 / 70 cm
by Simon Bird £300

View from The Colonel Hotel, Santa Maria, Panama city

Beneath the hotel is the once upmarket area of town, which is now badly run down. In the distance the ships can be seen entering and leaving the canal as a never ending stream of bright and polished tankers.

As of 2004 the United States have handed full running and economic control of the canal back to the Government of Panama. Many people, however, say that the huge revenue generated by the canal is not being spent on developing the country as a whole.

Acrylic on canvas, 90 / 70 cm
by Simon Bird £250

Costa de la mosquitia, Honduras.

On the way down to Panama I traversed the Mosquito coast. This is a canoe collecting supplies from our vessel. There is no road link for a few hundred miles along this stretch of coast. Most important to these isolated fishing villages is fuel for running a generator to watch videos.

Ink & watercolour on handmade paper 175/100 cm
by Simon Bird £ 250

Port Said, Suez Canal, Egypt.

A year after Panama I visited Egypt, and couldn't resist a visit to Port said at the mouth of the suez Canal. I spent the first 2 hours waiting for a ship to come along, so, I started to paint in the background. Then, when one did turn up, I found out I hadn't left enough room on the peice of paper to fit it all in.

Ink & watercolour on paper, 75/55 cm
by Simon Bird £200