Five years ago ...

... was the middle of the beginning of the financial crisis that still rages in Europe and informs (for good or bad) many of the things Wall Street/Washington does today.

Me?  I'd just painted Eliot Spitzer in March.  And five years and two days ago, I was standing outside of Bear Stearns with my painting of Jimmy Cayne.  And people were asking me when I'd be painting Fuld.

Fast forward five years.  It's been interesting.

Eliot Spitzer's painting remains the most heavily annotated painting I've ever done.  Well over 400 annotations (most average in the 250-350 range).  Usually, with a painting, I engage in a bit of wheedling of the passersby.

"Would you like to write something on my painting, ma'am?"

Stuff like that.  But with Spitzer, people were striding purposefully towards me from blocks away (I could see them coming), grabbing the marker and letting go.  It was a volatile combination of the most hated man on the Street unraveling in the manner of Shakespearean tragedy.

It was something ...