day of rage

Originally published 9/17/11

I heard on the internet that today was a "Day of Rage" around the country so I wanted to go out and make a painting. For some reason, the Los Angeles protest was to be at Olvera St which is actually a lovely part of town. I thought painting the Los Angeles branch of the Federal Reserve Bank was more appropriate but amazingly I was the only person there engaged in any form of protest so I felt a little let down by that... Today was like when I recently painted in Pasadena, people were recognizing me and talking about the story, a new experience for me. At 4pm Homeland Security pulled up and I went through the whole deal again, this time with Federal agents. I find it hard to believe but they said this or another building was threatened with fire tomorrow. So they asked for my ID, another incident report was filled out and they took a photo of the painting. I'm glad they didn't mind me photographing them as well. Here's a poorly shot and poorly edited video by your truly but it gives you a good feel for painting on the street. Part 'day in the life', part art lesson, part episode of COPS. here's a shot of the painting, it's still work in progress but a good start with an ugly subject! oil on canvas, 30 by 24