La señora de La Esperanza (The Lady From La Esperanza)

Cuba Series - Painting #7
April 2016
Acrylic on canvas - 36" x 48" 

The typical Cuban house will usually have a rocking chair in the living room and tile floors with distinctive patterns on them. I wanted to illustrate these ubiquitous household features within a scene that had a personal effect on me, and this encounter seemed to provide a perfect scenario.
 
If there's one thing you'll hear time and time again about Cuba, it's that despite the poverty and general discontent about the way things run in the country, the people there have an incredible spirit and a sweet nature that transcends their daily struggles. At each house I approached, my plan to find my grandfather's art was considered with fascination and genuine desire to help. More often than not, I was invited in and treated as if I were a long lost relative. One day, after telling my story to dozens of people and getting no leads I was directed to the house of Hector, the town historian.
 
When I reached the house, his wife greeted me at the door and invited me in before I could even say why I was there. She offered me a seat in the sitting room and called on her husband who was working in the backyard. As we waited for him she offered me coffee and I recounted my travels throughout the country and how I had arrived at her doorstep; and as with all the people I had met before, I was made to feel like an old friend or a distant relative.