Another Saturday protest

 

Things were just too quiet, so I headed home along the Maisonneuve bike path and eventually heard loud yelling over a megaphone coming from the direction of Cabot square. Cops had blocked off car access to st Catherine, and people in cars were upset and shouting at the cops, who just shrugged. A large group of protestors had mobilized on st Catherine and were starting a slow March in an easterly direction. As usual, they had a full escort of police officers in cruisers, as you can see in the painting. The politics are not essential to understand here, you are seeing Canadian, American, and a pre-1979 version of the Iranian flag, along with police cruisers in the foreground.  

Another Saturday protest, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, March 2026 

Despite the close proximity of the composition in painting number one, I was actually standing a bout two blocks away, not wanting to get caught in the ruckus like last time. On the corner of Atwater, a cop was blocking traffic, and also preventing buses from turning right into the depot area around Cabot square. It gave me enough time to paint the scene, replacing the police logo with my initials. It was a messy painting because I was getting snowed on the whole time and blasted with cold wind. 

Bus and cruiser, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, March 2026