Corner of Andrade and San Pablo Ave

Acrylic is a most convenient medium when you need to work in a large format (24 x 36) and fast enough to capture fleeting images, in this case, traffic. The day was still warm enough to cause my paints to dry fast, but I just kept adding gel, which provided me more control over the opacity. I arrived early and spent 20 minutes scouting a good location. I finally went inside the fish and chips business across Andrade and asked Mr. James, the owner, permission to set up shop right by his entrance, to which he agreed. Many passersby stopped to comment. People think the process of making art is mysterious (since a lot of artists work in their studios), when the opposite is very often true. Conceptual art has always put together the solemn and mundane. Just the other day I read about NYC artist Dan Colen, who has assistants chewing wads of bubble gum he then attaches to  a canvas. Why should representational art be any different? One woman said, "I want to know what is it about this intersection that is so special, it's not like these buildings are historical." She was genuinely puzzled. To her I would say: there is nothing inherently special about this intersection. That's why it is so interesting to paint, because no one seems to think it's worth painting. Painting in the street is equal parts performance and visual art. The act of painting something no one feels is worth painting is a performance, and this performance is also art.