Occupy Berkeley

...Occupy Berkeley...

oil on linen panel -  6 x 8"

It is early morning at the "Occupy" camp, and most people are not up yet. The few who are up are being very quiet. This is not my usual painting subject! But I couldn't resist all those colorful tents. Wow, were they ever hard to paint! I think it was because they are translucent, with light coming through. The location is the city of Berkeley, not the university campus. It was yesterday, the same day the police cleared the "Occupy" camp in San Francisco. There were no police in sight here, at least not while I was there.

I spoke with one of the protesters, who was very nice. He said that there was a large group of homeless people living in the park before the protesters got there. Knitters come on Thursday mornings and sit with the protesters, knitting. They have a schedule of when things happen, and appear to be quite an organized community.