Los jugadores de dominó (The Domino Players)

Cuba Series - Painting #1
January 2016
Acrylic on canvas - 36" x 48" 
SOLD 

I spotted these men in a shaded alley outside of a church in the town of Camaguay. The church sits on a corner of the historic Plaza San Juan de Dios. On this weekday afternoon the plaza was almost totally empty, save for some souvenir merchants and a few locals crossing its cobblestone expanse. Overhead a vulture flew, slowly circling the scene below.
 
Inside the church, parishioners sang hymns. The smell of incense drifted out to the alley where the men played dominoes. With each move they slammed their tiles down, but a sense of good-natured competitiveness belied the aggressiveness. I imagined their friendship went back decades.
 
I watched quietly from the sidelines as they played; admiring their camaraderie. They barely noticed me.