Caleb's work

Remember this? Today I came along as the artist was putting up his tape, and as you can see, he has much more ambitious plans for the same spot.

I stopped to thank him for donating his art to the neighborhood, and at first he thought I was being sarcastic, but once he saw that I really meant it, we had a marvelous conversation.

Caleb is in his 30s, is fit and athletic, does not use mind-altering substances of any kind, and dreams of having gallery shows of his work, which he has been developing and refining for the past five years. He grew up in a military family, and he told me, 

"I'm living on the street right now because rents are out of sight here, and I need time to develop my art. I wouldn't have that time if I worked some slave-labor mind-numbing job, so I'm getting by on very little money, and I love it here. I'm a veteran, went to college, got a desk job, but all I ever wanted to do, from the time I was a little kid, was make art. So now I can do that. The trouble is the tape costs as much as the spray paint, so that's where I spend all my money." 

I told him if he ever wants some photographs of his work to show a gallery, I'll spend a day with him and document his work, and I gave him my contact information. He showed me his archive, which is all on his phone, and we had a great conversation about the work and the perils of creating street art. He says the police don't bother him, but he mostly works at night, and when he's really concentrating on the work and not fully aware of his surroundings, he has been attacked by random strangers. As I left he said, "Thanks for spending time with me. Nobody's ever thanked me for this work before. I see you really get what I'm trying to do. That means so much to me."