Listen to my music

24"x30" Oil on canvas

One of the reasons I like New York is that I can see a lot of musicians in the street. I have a special affection toward them because not only do I love music, but also I might have ended up becoming a musician (guitarist, specifically) if I did not do art. In some way, art is the same as music. They both need natural born talent, tremendous practice and patience in order to master them for a lifetime. They are also pretty unsteady as job come by before you become a master artist or professional musician, and some of them even end up becoming starving artists. However the most important reason for being an artist is that there is nothing more valuable than art for them.
I usually finish a painting at one time, a la prima technique, but this painting was done in three sessions. I tried to express the lonely street musician playing for tips with his beautiful sound in the shade and park visitors who are not very interested in the music.