I had a long weekend because All Saint’s Day was on Friday this year. So I was able to do different paintings on two different days: Friday and Saturday. It was a special treat because the weather in Rome has been gorgeous; warm, dry and calm. Italy went back to Standard Daylight Time so I even had the sun rise very early in the morning.
As usual I was up at 5.30 a.m. and on the spot at 6.00. On Friday, I went back to place I had painted before and on Saturday, I stalked out a new place. I was able to paint very well on both occasions but on Saturday, I was interrupted several times by passersby.
A nearby taxi honked its horn at me from a nearby side street. I glance towards the noise and the driver greeted me. I turned back to my work and ignored the disturbance. Ten minutes later I heard a voice behind me saying, ‘Beautiful, beautiful. You are doing something beautiful.‘
I turned to face the stranger standing next to me. The same taxi driver from before started retelling his story of how he wanted to play jazz but had to find another job in order to raise his family. He was soon sobbing and real tears were coming from his eyes. I tried to console him and told him that I had a similar story. We shook hands and he parted with a renewed desire to play his saxophone in his spare time.
After a hour or so, I heard another voice from behind.
‘How much do your paintings cost?’
I continued painting as I told him about 300 euros a piece.
‘Do you sell much?’ he insisted.
I replied that I sell from time to time and turned to see who was there.
‘I paint too,’ he said. ‘I do Kandinsky very well.’ I do Mirò and Picasso and sometimes Matisse.’ I go to Paris and sell them for 3 to 4 thousand euros each.’
‘Lucky you.’ was all I could say. I wished him good luck and he walked off.
Different reactions to Art.
[whohit]-Halloween Weekend 2013_EN-[/whohit]
