Last night I purchased this piece in Millennium Park just north of the skating rink:
When I saw him, with a number of pieces splayed in front of him, he was finishing up with another client, giving her his number so she can contact him when she gets back home.
I asked him my stock question — “are you selling this art?”, and when he said “yes”, I gave him my stock answer— “I want to buy it”.
He was taken aback, as street artists often are, because there was no convincing or hemming or hawing. If you are selling art on the street, I want to buy it from you. Life can be very simple, if you let it.
He asked why I was so eager— something along the lines of have I ever bought sandstone art before. I said that my friend Mr. Imagination worked in sandstone. His shoulders heaved and we embraced. He said he never met anyone who knew Mr. Imagination before. We both recounted going to his house on Clark Street, beneath the train tracks. It is currently slated for demolition for the CTA Belmont overpass.
The artist talked about how he just got back from Los Angeles, where his sister is also an artist, and according to him, is far better at sandstone.
All hail the artists among us.