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I made this quick sketch painting while sitting in the Plaza de Armas in Habana Vieja. The Plaza is home to a book market, which sells used and antique books.
I sat in the shade of the plaza’s generous trees and made this painting. While I was sitting, a nearby book seller, who was also a painter stuck up a conversation with me. He told me that the statue in the plaza is of Carlos Manuel de Céspedes del Castillo, who fought for freedom from Cuba’s Spanish colonizers and also for freedom for slaves.
I recently had the opportunity to travel to Cuba to conduct professional research. I’ll be working with my colleague and travel companion to document our travel and research in the coming months. it was an extremely interesting trip to a country which presents a myriad of contradictions and complexities. I made a few watercolor paintings while I was there. Most of them were quick sketch paintings made quickly, without much time to linger on days with full agendas.
This painting was made while sitting on the balcony of the casa particular where we stayed in the Vedado neighborhood. The balcony was an extraordinarily pleasant place to sit in the hottest part of the afternoon, or to enjoy breakfast. From the balcony we could see to the ocean and also glimpse the private lives of the nearby residences. I made this postcard painting of a apartment building that just down the street, with aquamarine painted accents.
I took this photo of the painting while in Cuba before mailing this postcard because I had heard that mail from Cuba can take a month or more and sometimes doesn’t make it at all. It has been three weeks since my return and the postcard has not yet made an arrival to it’s U.S. destination.
