Middle Eastern Treasures and Original Paintings in Costa Esmeralda
Mary Howard's Kasbah Shop in Costa Esmeralda features fine art as well as crafts from around the world. Mary Howard travels the world to paint. Mary Howard tells us that she fell in love with art when she got her first set of crayolas. Mary spent her youth in boarding schools where she studied art and learned French, both in the USA and Switzerland. She worked on an art major at the University of Arizona and studied with artists in California and elsewhere.
Mary Howard came to Panama four years ago, encouraged by International Living. Besides her art Mary is active in animal rescue and a home building project. She sees herself as an international citizen, interested in all cultures and peoples of the world.
This lifelong artist travels to a country such as Burma or Morocco for a month and then returns for a longer visit. She tells fascinating stories of Berber women in Morocco and 12-year-old apprentice monks in Burma fluent in English. When Mary returns from a country she paints. Following a rigorous schedule, she paints during the day and critiques her work at night for two to three hours to prepare herself for the next day. Her shop, the Kasbah, contains the fruits of her labors.
The Kasbah Shop
In addition to Mary Howard’s many paintings the Kasbah shop resembles, well, a Kasbah. There are silk carpets and pottery from Morocco as well as “Hand of Fatima” doorknockers, and Tuareg “ fibulas, which are a triangular piece with a pin for fixing a veil or other garment. With antique lamps and hundred year old carpets a walk through the Kasbah Shop in Costa Esmeralda is a walk through time with Mary Howard as your guide.
Painting with a Deep Sense of the Subject
Mary talks of her Spirituality Series, which she did in Northern California early in her career. She says that she wants these painting to have a healing quality for those in need. Mary speaks of trying to show the real person in her paintings. From her experiences in Morocco she speaks of the difficulty of being a woman with no rights in a society. Then she mentions that the Tuareg women can hold property and sue for divorce. Interestingly she says that the Tuareg are historically the bodyguards for Berber caravans.
When Mary travels she goes with a translator, takes pictures, makes notes, and sketches. As an example she went to Burma for a month and then came back to the Padan area of Upper Burma, which is the seat of Buddhism in the country. Mary talks of a thirty square mile area with more than 2,500 temples, one large enough to seat 10,000 and others so small that only a single tiny person can enter.
In both Mary’s Moroccan series of 17 originals plus reproductions as well as the Burma series of 12 paintings she gets inside the subject. Talking to Mary Howard gives you insights into barely traveled parts of the world and insights into the human soul. This what she portrays in her paintings. Mary proudly talks of the archival German watercolor paper and archival ink she uses for her work. “These pieces will outlast me,” she says, “and probably my grandchildren.”
Besides the original oil paintings, which she sells, Mary sells high-end reproductions of all of her work. Besides the Burma, Morocco, and Spirituality series, Mary has a Panama series with a Kuna Yala woman, individuals in Casco Viejo, as well as a young woman in Bocas del Toro walking on the beach with a basket on her head.
We suggest that if you are interested in seeing Mary Howard’s art, checking out antique carpets or lamps, and hearing stories of her travels that you come to Costa Esmeralda and come to the Kasbah.
Mary is open by appointment only.
Phone: 6756 5060
DIRECTIONS:
From Panama City:
Drive past Coronado and continue for 5 kilometers.
Get in the left lane....
You will see Hacienda Pacifica on the left.
Directly in front of Hacienda Pacifica is a LEFT turn lane and you should be in it!
Make the left turn on to Avenida Costa Esmeralda, and continue for 3 kilometers. Kasbah is on the Left
There is plenty of parking.
From Penonome:
Drive past San Carlos and Vista del Mar...
Turn RIGHT on Avenida Costa Esmeralda, which is about 2 kilometers past Vista del Mar.
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