El hombre en la puerta (The Man in the Doorway)

Cuba Series - Painting #20
August 2017
36" x 48" - Acrylic on canvas

I spotted this surly looking gentleman during a long walk through the town of Camaguey. The doorstep he sat at graced an old colonial style building in one of the many sun-drenched plazas that dot the city. His clothing and demeanor told me he was probably a laborer on a break.
 
“No es facil”. It’s not easy - The eternal mantra of the Cuban people. He may have just been resting but I took something else from his body language. His expression to me reads as “resigned.” Resigned to what? The slow burn of the sun? A slow day at work? Or is there something more?
 
There is resilience in the Cuban people, but there is also fatigue from constant struggle. Perhaps that’s just life everywhere.