This is a series of recent paintings that I've shown in galleries this Spring.  I've been working with cigar boxes for a long time, used them as cases for print portfolios, in sculptures and installations and for small paintings.  I have a personal connection to cigar boxes and enjoy working with them.  My mom worked at a tobacco farm when she was a kid in Cuba, my grandfather smoked cigars, sometimes he let me cut the cigar for him and would occasionally let me try a smoke just to see what it was like.  Being 6 or 7 at the time I'd wince and give the cigar back to him right away and he'd get a big laugh out of it.  One of the things I enjoy about working with cigar boxes is opening them up, catching a whiff of the tobacco scent, and having old memories come back.  At left is a photo of my grandfather, Fernando Rodríguez, I call him Papá.  He passed away about 10 years ago.