At first, I had the help of a friend, who lived in the favela community of São Bento (Brazil) with his family. One day, in one of the first times I painted outdoors there, some guys approached me. I had to prove I wasn't an undercover police officer. Luckily I could do that. From then on, when I arrived with easels and canvas, they were like: “There he goes, the one who paints...” holding guns and walkie-talkies. Little by little, the tension made room to curiosity. More people started to approach me, wanting to see what was appearing on the canvas. And, when they saw themselves portrayed, they were very happy with the result and the “gringo”. Some of them even used to invite me for lunch. 

I miss these days.