My name is Alex Schaefer, I was born in Los Angeles, California in 1969 and live there today in downtown. I can be found quite often with my easel on the sidewalks of the bustling city streets painting en plein-air streetscapes, at one with the city where he lives and paints. I'm not not shy about including controversial and artistic satire into his paintings and often expresses my views onto canvas. During the great American recession starting in 2008, I gained international notoriety for my politically charged symbolic plein-air paintings depicting banks on fire. I studied at the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, California and after ten years in the video game industry, I taught painting and drawing at Art Center for 12 years. My main influences are the early French Impressionists and San Francisco Bay area figurative and abstract artists of the 1950’s; my oeuvre is wide ranging from traditional plein-air landscapes, cityscapes and street scenes to figurative nudes, portraits and abstract paintings. Find my on Instagram @paintwithalex and visit my website at www.paintwithalex.com