A sensual interior with tropical flowers in soft flamingo pink, evoking a slow afternoon in Havana …
I lived for a time in Havana. In the mid afternoon it would get very hot and people would often retreat indoors.
The interiors of this very tropical city had a soft and moody light, being shielded as they were by charming verandahs and porches to buffer their occupants from monsoonal rains and daytime heat.
Often you could hear latin jazz wafting through the open window from a nearby performer; and because it seemed every other person in Havana could dance, sing, or play a musical instrument to professional standard.
The people were spontaneous, candid and warm, and the atmosphere so very special.
This interior features the colour that particularly evokes Cuba for me, a kind of coral pink that was used for many of the buildings, and also echoes the flamingos of the Caribbean wetlands.
It also happens to be the colour of my favourite Cuban lunch: a Cubano (amazing Cuban sandwich) and a ‘batido de mamey’. This Cuban milkshake is made from a Carribean fruit called the mamey sapote, and is a sublime beverage which I am sure must be like no other on earth.
I hope that you enjoy this celebration of the sensual yet intellectual, brooding but casual, refined but informal, cultured but spontaneous, very ‘muy complicado’ and seductive world that is Cuba.
You can see some short reels featuring this picture on my instagram feed, @shereeglasson
FRAMING NOTE: this artwork has been professionally framed by Amarisco framing of St Leonards. The artwork, which is on 300 gsm Arches cotton paper, is ‘floated’ over a white matt board. This technique provides space between the artwork itself and its matt board background, thus showcasing the airy lightness of the paper medium. The piece is protected behind non-reflective art glass which creates crystal clarity of viewing in all light conditions. The frame itself is timber, finished in a matt white paint to allow the wood grain character to show through. I selected the all-white finish for this piece and in order to make the artwork colours pop. The artwork therefore should look brilliant and engaging against most coloured walls and in a range of decors. As with all artworks, this work should be protected from direct sunlight; in particular, not displayed anywhere where the sun could shine onto it directly. Extremely bright rooms may also fade this (or any) work over time, particularly in bright Australian conditions.