Valle de Vinales, Cuba

Valle de Viñales (The Viñales Valley) is near the western tip of Cuba. It is a beautiful landscape of hills and caves, where life centers on growing tobacco-strange red leaves almost starved by the salty soil, but brought to life by permanent sunshine. In the west side of the Cordillera de Guaniquanico, at the foot of the Sierra de los Órganos, lies a region of limestone outcrops known as mogotes. These huge round-topped hummocks rising out of the ground emerged from the sea more than two million years ago and were formed during the Jurassic period. Farmers arrived around 1800 and began cultivating tobacco across the region. 200 years later, it is still the lifeblood of the Viñales Valley. Viñales boasts a unique variety of plant and animal life-some of it in danger of extinction, such as the cork palm, the agabe, the macusey hembra, the alligator oak and the dragon tree. Several images of Cuba were given to me by a family member, after his visit there. I painted "Valle de Viñales, Cuba" for my husband, Havana born, to remind him of his homeland.

Original oil on canvas.
Studio work, 2005.
24" x 18" - ($860 value) NFS, Collection the artist.
Signed & Dated.
Framed