San Juan Dandy

Pique Assiette mosaic with broken crockery and vintage jewelry on wood.

When visiting Old San Juan in 2017, I passed a very stylish older man in the street. A jaunty straw hat perched upon his head, and a vintage print traditional guayaberas shirt, I couldn't just stroll past him without taking his photo. Running back to him and communicating my desire through hand gestures and broken Spanish, I was surprised when he agreed, then proceeded to art direct the shoot by placing himself in front of one of the brightly colored crumbling buildings and angling his face towards the sun. I had a 15 minute photo shoot with the kindly gentleman, and gave him a handful of dollars for his trouble. He took off his hat, kissed my hand and bowed deeply before strolling back down the street.

When I returned home, I had no choice but to create a mosaic of this man, and every time I look at it, I'm right back in magical Puerto Rico and can smell the heavy tropical air rich with cigar tobacco, I can see the candy colored crumbling buildings, the beautiful turquoise skies, and the faces of the friendly people of that intoxicating island.