Cuba’s countryside gem, Viñales, is the heart of tobacco country, where 95% of the worlds Cuban cigars originate and the best of the best is kept by the farmers for their own pleasure. I was swept away by the beauty of the moment when I met this cool tobacco farmer. He had a powerful vitality, and a sharp-eyed confidence. An energy born from the land he grew up in. I could see in his eyes the strength of his determination. He deftly rolled a cigar in his hands from his own special stock and dipped the end in honey to sweeten the taste. Passing us a sample of what proved to be the smoothest smoking cigar any of us had tried…

One of my precious pieces of work is now on the market. I have mixed emotions when I part with a painting I have created. On one hand it is a warm feeling to think that someone else enjoys my work enough to want to own it. On the other hand, there is a sense of loss. 

My work contains part of me and the process of creation is far from just mechanical. There are still links back to my consciousness and these are not so easy to severe. I am not the girl in the picture, but that doesn’t mean we aren’t still connected…

Thanks to Fiona at Asian Palette for providing the space for my painting and for introducing me to some wonderful and interesting people. Please visit her gallery if you are in Singapore and get some free time. http://www.asianpalette.sg