“The Players” series of portraiture paintings evolved out of a street vending practice over the course of 3 years. It was done in the spirit of Agitprop art, focusing on individuals who had a significant impact in shaping society such as authors, philosophers, presidents, revolutionaries and economists. As an artist I wanted to directly engage with people in public spaces to get a sense of what people were curious about in Toronto when it came to politics. It was an opportunity to challenge my ability to research and synthesize information so as to engage with the complexity of the world in a productive manner.  Most of the activity took place on the north side of Queen Street, east of Spadina where majority of the works were painted during the day time hours. I was there along with a group of other artists, each experimenting with different styles and mediums in the hopes of generating a living in the arts. It was a dynamic and exciting time which contributed to an intense and prolific period of creativity and has informed my practice since.  The work also traveled with me to Montreal, Winnipeg and New York.