The busker is real. I saw him in Rundle Mall, Adelaide. He stands on a garbage bin, slowly rotating the hoop and waving his hands around, collecting money to start a church in North Korea.

Having photographed him I thought he was too exotic to paint (better as a photograph which, once upon a time, guaranteed the image was real). Then I came across the wall in central Adelaide and the two images came together.

He has my hands as he was waving his around so much they photographed as a blur, and I got rid of several dangly bits - also the Christmas tree pattern on his T shirt. It was all getting extremely cluttered.

Then I saw him again, wrapped up in a skirt smothered in plastic flowers. I have the photographs but that would be way way  too hard.