Cuban Coffee Beans and Lime Original Oil Painting

Cuban Coffee Beans and Lime Copyright 2012 Maria Soto Robbins

Dimension: 12x12x.75 inches gallery wrap canvas 

Media: Oils 

This vibrant, impressionistic painting was done with brushes and palette knives and shows a demitasse full of Cuban coffee together with the typical Italian espresso coffee maker and cut lime. Since I'm Cuban, and I love my cafecito, I inserted a Cuban flag in the reflection. Can you see it? Thick, impasto foam on the coffee! A great brew to share with a friend! 

It has a gently textured impasto. Sold without a frame! 
Varnished to protect it from dust and ensure longevity. 

Click here to check out Cuban Coffee Beans and Lime original oil painting in my Etsy shop. 

Miami Beach Hat & Hammock

Copyright 2012 Maria Soto Robbins

This impressionistic painting was done in oils and it shows a tranquil beach view with a straw hat hanging from a palm tree and hammock. No frame needed!

Dimension:8x10x.75 gallery wrapped canvas
Media: Oils 

Check my etsy shop here for more information on Miami Beach Hat & Hammock.

Long Lost Loves~A True Valentine's Day Story

"Marta" and "Luis"-Then and now

In honor of Valentine's Day, this coming Tuesday, I'd like to share a true love story of my friends, and how they found each other after almost 40 years of leading separate lives.

"Luis" and "Marta" (not their real names) were noviecitos or sweet hearts in our beach side town of Santa Fe, Cuba during the early 1960's.  They both taught catechism to the young children in our parish.  Marta's grandmother, in particular, loved Luis. "He's so handsome and sweet" she would tell her grand daughter.

Fidel Castro, and his communist regime, came to power and Marta's parents knew they had to leave the island.  She was 15 at the time and it broke her heart to have to leave the love of her young life behind.

Marta and her family came to the U.S. like so many others, and settled in Yonkers, NY.  She missed Luis terribly since he stayed behind with his family, who were all on the island.  Life went on and Marta believed that she could get Luis out of Cuba if only she could claim him as her spouse, since this was the only viable way of getting a loved one out of Cuba, at that time.  If was referred to as "reclaiming" or reclamar a relative. So they agreed to a proxy marriage.  Marta's grandmother stood in her place, next to Luis, during the marriage ceremony in Cuba.

However, even with the civil marriage established, no one was getting out of Cuba, legally by this time, so Luis stayed behind in spite of their efforts. He thought he would never see his “niña bonita” again.  Life went on and seeing that there was no way out, he met someone and married.

Marta was devastated but her father encouraged her to forget about him and go on with her life. A dissolution of marriage had been gotten but Marta never forgot Luis.  Ever. She, too, married and had two daughters.

Fast forward 38 years.  Marta is now living in Miami, after having divorced her husband.  Luis has finally left Cuba via Mexico and is now settled in south Florida too.

A group of friends from Santa Fe started meeting regularly at La Habana Vieja restaurant on Coral Way, in Miami. Everyone enjoyed seeing old friends and re-telling favorite stories. Around this time, Marta started going to these reunions.  Luis did too. Emotions that had been buried for so long started to surface. They felt like a couple of teenagers in love again.  Neither one had ever forgotten the other and there was no stopping them this time.

They have now been married, again, for nearly 10 years. Marta says that her dreams have all come true when she reconnected with Luis. "My grandmother would have been so happy to know that we're finally together and married-again", she says. Luis is still the love of her life and it’s evident that she is the same for him too. They act like a  pair of deliriously happy teenagers who are very much in love!
 
Happy Valentines Day!

cariños ♥

Sunflower Sunshine

copyright 2012 Maria Soto Robbins

Spanish Sangria

Spanish Sangria 2012 Maria Soto Robbins

Spanish sangria was inspired by this lovely pitcher, that a good friend gave me some years back. I use it to mix the ingredients for our sangrias, and love these colors. 

Sold with a frame, ready to hang. Varnished to protect it from dust and ensure longevity. This painting also makes a great gift.

Dimension: 11x14 canvas panel
Comes with flat brown wood frame measuring 16.5x19.5 overall with 1 inch white cloth mat insert)

Media:Oils 


Check my etsy shop for Spanish Sangria oil painting.

New Painting for January

Cuban Coffee, Lime and Creamer Copyright 2012 Maria Soto Robbins

Happy New Year!  

  

"The days are long but the years are short." I love this quote from Gretchen Rubin and her Happiness Project, because it's so true!  

Two thousand eleven came and went in a blur as did Christmas. Nevertheless, I hope the holiday season was a happy one for you.  Although I was sick with the flu during Christmas, I spent quality time with my family and had a much needed break to rest and recuperate.  

 To start out 2012, I'd like to share this piece I've just completed.  This series of Cuban Coffee paintings are definitely my most requested pieces.  I love the comments I get from collectors telling me about the pleasant memories this subject brings to mind.  Erin purchased one of these and recently wrote telling me:

"I want to let you know how excited I was when I found this piece! My boyfriend saw the image when he was doing an image search titled "Cuba". An image of this piece came up and he really admired it. His family is from Cuba and he does enjoy a cafecito every morning. I just want you to know that this was a much enjoyed birthday gift!!!" 

 Please check out Cuban Coffee, Lime and Creamer in my etsy shop here.  

Cariños,

Maria

  

My Wish for You~~

Merry Christmas & A Very Happy New Year! from Maria Soto Robbins (artbymsr) Thanks for reading and following my blog and checking my online etsy, ebay, and fineartamerica stores. For all your kind comments and purchases throughout the year, no matter how small. I truly appreciate you! Wishing all of you a wonderful holiday, filled with peace, joy and love this season and throughout this coming year!  cariños, Maria Soto Robbins Miami, Fl Featured Paintings: Poinsettia Closeup This closeup of a red poinsettia was inspired by the season and all the potted poinsettias I have around my house. Can't help but want to paint her! Check out my Fineartamerica store for cards and prints. Check out my FineArtAmerica prints & cardshttp://fineartamerica.com/profiles/maria-soto-robbins.html Flan: I was inspired to paint this after making a delicious pumpkin flan recently. I was trying to capture some of the caramel goodness from my creation! If you'd like the recipe, check out my blog post at: http://artbymsr.blogspot.com Check out my Etsy storehttp://artbymsr.etsy.com

Flan de Calabaza (Pumpkin Flan)

Flan Oil Painting copyright 2011 Maria Soto Robbins

Flans are a typical Cuban (and Spanish) custard-like dessert that usually include eggs, milk and flavorings.  I'm partial to coconut flan but this time, I thought pumpkin would be a nice change from my usual since I was asked to bring a flan to a Christmas party.

This is what the flan looked like after being inverted from its baking pan.

 And, as it turned out, it was a hit at the gathering we went to on Saturday. It's my own recipe after having tried several different variations, over the years.  Since I was asked for the recipe several times, I thought I'd share. 


Ingredients for caramel:
¾ cup white sugar + 3 tablespoons water for caramel

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Ingredients for filling:
4 large eggs
1 can condensed milk
2 cups whole milk
1 can pure pumpkin puree  (not pumpkin pie mix)
1/4 cup rum (or 1 tablespoon vanilla, if not using rum)
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon salt

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There’s a two step process in this flan, as in most flans. You need to melt the sugar in order to caramelize it and give your flan that beautiful golden color. A real easy way of doing the caramel is in the microwave (thanks to Linda Cicero):

Combine the sugar (3/4 cup) and 3 tablespoons water in a 6 cup glass measuring cup.
Cover tightly with microwavable plastic and cook on high for 4-5 minutes, until the syrup turns deep amber (the longer it cooks, the darker it’ll be). If sugar is still white after 5 minutes, add 20 seconds at a time till you reach the right golden color. Don’t overcook since you don’t want to burn it!
Uncover carefully and pour the caramel into the flan mold you’ll be using. Swish it around until the pan until it is all covered with the caramel. Wear gloves and be careful!
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Put all the ingredients, for the filling, mentioned above into a blender (or food processor) and process for about 3 minutes. I did it in the blender in 2 batches since it was too much liquid. Then I poured it into a big mixing bowl and whisked it gently together.  

Carefully pour into your flan pan (a 2 liter glass Pyrex is good) that has been covered with the caramel.

Put the uncovered pan in a bain-marie (also known as a water bath/baño de Maria) in your oven for one hour at 350 degrees. After one hour, insert a knife or toothpick in the center and make sure it comes out clean before you remove from the oven.
 
Refrigerate overnight. Once it’s thoroughly set, carefully place a serving plate on top and gently flip it over. You will have a gorgeous, delicious flan that is pretty easy to make!

Mine cracked in the center after baking, but it doesn't matter because you'll be flipping it over!

After flipping it over, it should look like this:

Enjoy!

Art Basel 2011

Art Basel is, "The world's premier international art show for Modern and contemporary works, Art Basel features nearly 300 leading galleries from North America, Latin America, Europe, Asia and Africa. More than 2,500 artists, ranging from the great masters of Modern art to the latest generation of emerging stars, are represented in the show's multiple sections."

Over the week-end, we had the pleasure of going to Art Basel, at Miami Beach Convention Center, which celebrated its 10 year anniversary. I'd like to share some images which I found intriguing.

"Joshua" was interesting to me only because someone close to me knows him, and told me to be on the look-out for it.  Funny thing is that he's not Jewish and his real name is not "Joshua"! Artistic license, for sure!


 Some people might relate to this photo after spending time at the show:

Havana Forever

El Morro copyright 2011 Maria Soto Robbins

I remember very little of Havana, quite frankly, and unfortunately that includes seeing El Morro. We lived about 15 miles away from the city in "La Playa de Santa Fe" (Santa Fe Beach).  I was only a child when I left and I've never been back.  I've just picked up a beautiful hardcover book though, Havana Forever, by Kenneth Treister, Felipe J. Prestamo, and Raul B. Garcia which profiles the beautiful architecture and gives a historical background on the founding of the Cuban capital. I'm enjoying it's beautiful photographs and learning  

Havana Forever

quite a lot about the history of Havana and its Spanish roots.  The last 50 years of Castro's dictatorship have left most of the buildings in this city neglected, decayed and in desperate need of repair.  However, at the same time, there is something positive about this de-facto preservation.  In the course of the years, new modern buildings haven't been built en masse around these older structures (including new McDonalds or  Starbucks) to destroy the old colonial charm that does exist.  

Check this book out here, if you're interested in Cuban history or hope to visit the city in the future. It would be an invaluable guide.

    

Happy Thanksgiving!

Though I try to be grateful every day, this holiday really makes a celebration of our thankfulness. So, what am I personally thankful for?

My family. Our health. My supporters and collectors. I am so grateful to be painting, especially during challenging times such as these, and the reason I can do that is because of you. Thank you!

Hope you have a happy and healthy Thanksgiving.

Peace and Blessings
Cariños,
Maria Soto Robbins
http://artbymsr.etsy.com

Sunflower Sunshine

This 8x10 oil painting started out as a study for a bigger sunflower painting I recently worked on. You may remember this commission. Anyway, the contrast of red, yellows and the brown center was very pleasing to my eye, so I went with it. 


When initially doing a study, of course, it's usually rough and you might not even apply enough paint. You'll maybe do one layer, or rough sketch, just to see how you'll approach the subject.  After I finished with this initial study, I decided to give it a couple of more layers of the oil paints, and really thickened up the center of the flower. It kind of painted itself! I'm very happy that my little study didn't get discarded after its intended purpose was accomplished!  

Sunflower Sunshine is available here.