Drawing Attention To Myself

Doing art in public places in a foreign country is almost always interesting.  While I really don´t care one way or the other about the attention, and sometimes could do without it, it is often a great way to meet and connect with people.  It is rather different from fiddling with a laptop or a phone as so many people do when they are solo in a cafe but when you are doing art you are actually opening yourself to those around you as opposed to others who are addicted to their little tech toys.  It actually draws people in rather than keeping them out.  Yesterday in the Oma on Carrera 19 it was almost embarrassing.  One of the servers brought three of her coworkers over to my table so they could see what I was doing. Today at the other Oma in the big fancy mall I ended up chatting to one of the managers and after with a couple of servers.

Yesterday did feel a little tense at times as I was near the area where I was having problems with undercover ´´police´´and I really felt uneasy for a while while I was in the Oma there.  I have learned through hard experience to trust this intuition and I remained inside, away from the window until I felt better.  Of course there is no way of verifying if there really is anything going on but I have opted to err on the side of caution.  Later while walking on the paved median of the boulevard Calle 116 towards Uzaquen, or Use A Kleenex, I was obstructed by yet another driver on his phone and I said to him in Spanish ``Que tu cuelgues´´ or, hang up, a woman there started talking to me about how rude some of the drivers here are and it is actually illegal to talk on the phone while driving but people tend to respect the law even less here than in Vancouver.  She was a really nice lady, in her fifties, I´d say, and we had an enjoyable chat.  She also warned me to keep my eyes open at all times while in Bogota because this city is not safe.

I am drawing more than ever, turning out almost one good drawing a day, knowing full well that in a few short days I will be so busy with my day job that I will have precious little time for my art.  I am very grateful by the way to certain supervisors at work for letting me share art with our clients.