Big boat in the Welland Canal
Once in a while, I get up from my workspace in our cottage and put down my brushes to take a look at the progress I have made on my latest composition. I have been working on these geometric paintings for a while and need to branch out. While I give it some thought, we take a break to go on the road so that my wife, Anna, can get her new Canadian passport ( she was born in Montreal ). On the way to the passport office just over the border at Niagara Falls, we stop in to see the Welland Canal. The Welland Canal has the capacity to lift really big boats like the one you see above. Just a few of these behemoths come through each day and it takes a while to lift them up to the next lock ( there are eight locks on this canal ).
"Rise and Shine",by Alan Singer
Acrylic Gouache on board
Back in my studio I work out the grid for a new painting that is all about color and segments built out of carefully measured squares of color. I am thinking about where this work could lead me...Someone looking at my new work could say: "What does this all mean?" Then the idea is to strike out for new territory and get more experimental....
I look back almost ten years ago, and my primary artwork has a similar effect even when I was making prints on my etching press. One of my favorites from that moment in history is a print that will be exhibited in a show called "Radiance" at the ADC Gallery in Ohio this coming month. I hope to be able to go and see the show when it opens.
"Tropicalia", print on Fabriano paper, 2016 by Alan Singer
Now it is springtime and the trees are leafing out, and before I can go back to work on my art we are scheduled to take a flight south to visit Anna's brother in Georgia. We are going to Tybee Island off the coast of Savannah. Savannah is a historic city which is looking very productive. From our flight in, you could see the port and container ships lined up for miles. We go out from the airport which is bustling and enter what seems like a tropical paradise.
Historic Savannah
Off the coastal road we take a walk one hot morning to go and see the lighthouse and a sprawling Fort Pulaski. It makes a big impression sitting in a moat, like a big boat afloat....
This a National Monument - a garrison from the Civil War days, preserved for visitors like us!
Fort Pulaski offf the coast of Savannah, Georgia
I brought my watercolors with me and a little pad to make some sketches, and had the pleasure of making a couple of studies sitting on the balcony of the new house that Anna's brother has built on Tybee. Later we went to visit the Tybee Marine and Science Center which has many fine exhibits! This is really a great stay and the weather was wonderful!
Tybee Island view, May 20, 2025
