Inspiration from Cuba

I took a sketchbook and a tiny watercolor palette on my ten day trip to Cuba in January, but our schedule was so full, there was no opportunity to sketch.  I was very glad to have my camera with me and recorded what I was seeing even while we traveled on the bus.    

There was meaning, beauty and inspiration everywhere I looked--in revolutionary symbols, in color and texture, in tropical scenery and endemic birds, in age and youth--a country lingering in a time past with so much energy and vitality in its art and culture.  Artistic images were everywhere.  A warbler perched on a porch lamp, green bananas ripening in a rusty blue wheel barrow, colorful chickens scratching to feed their young, a team of oxen pulling a plow, a sturdy horse pulling a cart loaded down with people.

My photos captured much of what I saw, but I came home with a burning desire to paint these different and challenging subjects in watercolor.  The young girl from Las Terrazas, pictured in the sketch above, is dressed in her school uniform and paused to display her flag for us before heading home after her day at school.

Above, a study of a young horse being trained to accept the noises and confusion of road travel.

In Cayo Coco, Cuba, I was on my way to breakfast and stopped to watch Cuban Emeralds (hummingbirds) nectaring blossoms in a nearby tree.  I also discovered a beautiful Yellow-throated Warbler perched on the light fixture on the second floor balcony above--an unexpected setting for a life bird!  Wintering warblers were everywhere in Cuba!

Visit Cuba on the Discover Birds Blog