Cuba Painting with friends!

Smokin' Cuban

16 x 20 oil on museum board

available through McBride Gallery

Annapolis, Md,

Cuba Today Show Opening May 1st

If you read my last Newsletter ( different from the blog)

you'll know that I got lost on day one, by 10:30 a.m.

I was taking a photo of this beautiful Cuban woman and waiting

for change from a 10 cucs bill. 

(cucs are the Cuban currency equivalent to about one euro).

It took about four Cubans to come up with 7 cucs change

and by the time I turned around my group was gone!

They actually did miss me I'm happy to say!

I thought I saw them go in one direction but

wandered down the wrong street when it started to drizzle.

I kept wandering and it kept raining harder and harder.

Finally it was a full on monsoon and I was completely soaked,

so I started weighing my options.

I opted to try to find my bus instead of cab it back to the hotel

and ruin my day. So I blindly headed in what I thought was the

direction of the port and where the bus had dropped us off.

Fortunately I was right, the only problem being that there were about

100 buses.  I was getting blown down the street, empty bus after

empty bus (apparently they take a nap when on break).

Finally two bus drivers were visiting in a bus cab and

saw me coming, felt sorry for me because I was looking pretty pathetic,

and let me in and out of the rain. Whew!

I explained in my terrible Spanish that I was lost (obviously)

 and looking for bus #3918. 

All the Cuban's I met were so kind, he just started up his bus and 

drove me around the other 100 buses until we found mine.

Home sweet home!

I gave him a twenty cucs tip for saving my day and giving my

little side adventure a happy ending.

He declined at first but I insisted and his eyes were misty with delight!

The moral is- the photo was worth it!

I painted alot with my new friend Michele Byrne on the trip.

She wields a wicked palette knife. 

If you'd aren't familiar with her work you can check it out here.

Pic of Michele and I painting and she's alot happier with 

her painting than it looks like I am!

Like I told the group standing around watching us paint-

Ella es muys famosa en Estados Unidos!

Check out the link to her site above.

Thanks for following along and allowing me to share my art/life with you!

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