Tag Archives: Viñales

Black Caves, Serene Orchids, and a Cuban Gaudi-Wannabe

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Here’s a blitz through of some other interesting things between Vinales and our downtown Havana Hotel (the Parque Centrale):

— trekking and boating through tunnels underneath the magotes . . .

black cave surrounding small opening with blue sky & magote in distance

View from cave mouth toward a nearby magote.

— lovely orchids and landscapes at an orchid conservatory:

white and lavender orchids

Lovely orchids, not rare, as far as I know.

— and a riot of colorful mosaics, inspired by the Spanish artist Antoni Gaudi, and created by and under the supervision of Jose Fuster (often described as ‘the Picasso of the Caribbean’).

many statues and structures covered with colorful mosaics

Looking down into Fuster’s front yard.

If you want to see more of Fuster’s fanciful creations (now a cottage industry, as they bring so many tourists to his neighborhood), click here.

I made only one painting while sightseeing our way to central Havana. My knees couldn’t take the climb to the top of the orchid preserve, so I sat at the entrance and made this little watercolor of a rusting red wheelbarrow overhung by bright orange flowers.

Red wheelbarrow ‘color-coordinates’ with nearby hanging flowers.

Interesting Things on the Way to Havana . . . Hemingway and More!

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We saw some memorable things on the day we traveled from Vinales to our Havana hotel — especially Hemingway‘s house with its lovely view of Havana. We weren’t able to go inside and had to content ourselves with ogling through the open windows – but there was still plenty to see.

living room with couch, chairs and stuffed animal heads

Comfortable living room with mounted trophies . We all agreed that, unlike celebrity homes we often read about, we could see ourselves living in this room.

simple desk and chair, book shelves, mementos

His simple desk and chair, surrounded by books and mementos.

a bathroom with commode, bookshelf and curiosity shelf

A stash of books by his john — and note that pickled something or other on the shelf!

a closet filled with shoes, boots and hats and his Spanish Civil War uniform

His Spanish Civil War uniform, boots, shoes and hats, all as he left them the day he was exiled from Cuba.

Another desk and more of his thousands of books.

The next post will show a few more highlights from our drive to central Havana.

Vinales Finale ~~ on to Havana!

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We had beautiful days in Vinales, sunrise to sunset. I took lots of photos and, while waiting for evening activities, made a couple more paintings. A gouache of the valley below our balcony (the black paper didn’t photograph well):

a gouache painting of the Vinales Valley beneath our balcony

‘Gauzy’ gouache of the valley beneath our balcony.

and a watercolor of a lone palm tree presiding over the pool (painted happily with a Mojito at my elbow):

A painting of a solitary palm tree with mogote background, watercolor

A proud palm by the pool at Los Jazmines,Vinales.

Here are a few more photos in and around Los Jazmines Hotel, made primarily to fix the place and its beauties in my memories:

Early sunrise at Los Jazmines.

photo of the valley with a tobacco barn under construction

Tobacco barn underway in the valley.

looking down the length of the bar

The cozy cafe-bar in the hotel.

bartender behind bar pours coffee

We DID drink coffee in addition to plentiful Mojitos!

pink hotel and blue pool

Pink hotel and blue pool made a cool combo.

waiter and guests chat in the cool evening

A casual evening around the pool.

sunset, sky and part of the hotel balcony

We sigh and snap a photo of our last Vinales sunset.

painting on a wall near the hotel

We pass a ‘colorful’ mural en route to the morning bus.

Goodbye, Vinales! Goodbye, Los Jazmines! On to Havana!

More Vignettes of Vinales, Cuba

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After our time at the tobacco farm, we met up with the non-painters in our group. Most of them had visited a tobacco farm that morning via horseback, while we painted the ‘bull boy’.

Back together, we meandered through the cozy town of Vinales, taking in the sights, as illustrated by the photos below. Charming cars, wagons and other make-shift vehicles. Old and new-style housing combined with primitive construction techniques. Tired populace and garbage-strewn streets following three days and nights of a long-awaited music festival. Well-tended and prominent references to the revolution: Che on a chimney top; Jose Marti in a stark white lane-side memorial; cardboard street signs on bars and painted slogans gracing the local ball stadium.

Touring and Painting a Cuban Tobacco Farm

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For the next cultural-artistic adventure, we bused to nearby Vinales town and hiked to a small tobacco farm out on the valley floor.

The tobacco farm set against pasters.

Our first glimpse of the farm.

The farmer's wife brews coffee for our group

The farmer’s wife brews coffee.

In the thatched kitchen — an outbuilding, so as to minimize the risk of fire — we enjoyed a complimentary coffee brewed by the farmer’s wife from beans grown and roasted by the family.

As we sat around with some of the best coffee we’ve ever had, her husband demonstrated his cigar-rolling technique. It was interesting to learn that each farm family uses its own secret recipe to ferment its 10% share of the annual tobacco crop.

We were able to persuade the farmer to move his table outside and demo his technique again — this time, we painted. Another wonderful local subject!

The farmer poses for the painters.

The farmer turns model for the afternoon.

I was grateful to snag a small chair and a sliver of shade for our painting session. Here’s the watercolor I made.

the tobacco farmer poses for us in his yard

The tobacco farmer with background bull.

Cuba was a Trip!

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With a cohort of fellow artists from the Yellow Barn and several family members (including my hubby), I just completed an extremely interesting and fruitful trip to Cuba. We planned to interact with Cuban artists; paint Cuban people, land and cityscapes; soak up the culture; and leave behind art supplies and other items that could be useful.

We began in Pinar del Rio, in western Cuba, exploring the Vinales Valley, with its mysterious mogotes, and other environs. Here is the spectacular view from our little balcony immediately upon arrival.

Red earth, green fields, and mysterious mogotes

Vinales Valley, with Mogotes in the Distance

And a photo of fellow artists, also soaking up the beauty.

All Enjoy the View

All Enjoy the Spectacular View

And an ipad sketch I immediately began (using ArtRage3).

iPad Sketch of Vinales Valley

iPad Sketch of Vinales Valley