I found about the Viaduct Mural Project in Oak Park, IL the day before the deadline for submissions . Because time was of the essence I decided to submit an image of an actual painting. Lo and behold it got selected. I ordered the paint and waited for the walls of the viaduct to be prepped and primed. They were ready on a Thursday and I worked for four hours on Friday until I could not stand the chill any longer (it was in the mid-40’s), worked another chilly day on Sunday and finished the piece the following Wednesday. Bing , bang, boom. It was almost like painting by numbers since all I was doing was copying the painting although I did end up taking a few liberties as the work developed. The good news is that I was working with acrylics. They dry in minutes. And the bad news is that I was working with acrylics. Because of the speed that they dry it made blending colors difficult. The course cement surface is also rough on the brushes. But other than these minor adjustments the piece came together beautifully. I haven’t quite decided on a name but for now I’ll call it “The Brush Off.”