Karyn and Redbook

In my previous post, I mentioned a survivor who is one of my volunteers for the Bravery project. She is an amazing person. When I first talked to her on the phone, I felt she was strong and well organized. When we met, I was right.

Karyn has a real busy life raising kids, working two jobs, and going to school, yet she still manages to champion assistance for issues on domestic violence. She, like many other survivors I have met, are passionate and effective about helping other women. After our portrait sitting, she took me to a new shelter that, for a while, sat unoccupied and vacant. That is until Karyn came along. Within a few short weeks, she had the place furnished and filled with necessary items. What a difference one person can make!

Karyn was featured in one of Redbook Magazine's articles last October's issue. If you missed the article, I have a link here : You May Think Domestic Violence Has Nothing to Do with You.

The article contains stories on four people touched by domestic violence and all are a must read. In fact, another survivor from one of those stories is also a volunteer for me, and I can't wait to draw her portrait.

Lost necklaces and giving

I know it's been a while since I wrote last, but things are picking up quite nicely. First I want to say that the gal in the pastel in my last post lost her beautiful cross necklace after the sitting. Quite a bummer, but thank goodness she wore it as it is now memorialized in the painting. Chalk it up to a reminder to wear what is meaningful to you as a volunteer and model for your portrait painting.

Lately, I've started a couple more pieces. One is an oil painting and the other is a graphite drawing. There are three more on the way. It's so exciting to meet these new people and see how far they've come. One volunteer is a real go-getter. She is so passionate about helping other women that she has helped open another much needed shelter in the Phoenix valley. With her drive and gift for networking and organization, she has coordinated all the furnishings for this new place, practically all on her own, while going to school and working full time. Amazing person! I'll be writing more on her later.

Last weekend we replaced our living room ceiling fan with new one with lights. The old one works fine, so I contacted the volunteer and asked her if she could use the fan for the shelter she is furnishing. Turns out she can. What an idea. If you have any gently used stuff that you might be giving to Goodwill this Christmas season, why not call a shelter to see if the people could use it there. I have some links on this blog that will get you in contact with a shelter organization in your state. It's a simple example of reaching out to others who still suffer and way of giving Thanks for how far we've all come in our lives.

~Happy Thanksgiving~

Portrait Example

(Click on image to enlarge)

I'm sure that some of you who are thinking about participating in the project from a distance want to see what one looks like. Not just a portrait, but one about a survivor. Well, here it is! With permission from the volunteer, I have made a traditional portrait in pastel of her. This one is 16x20 on colored paper. Canson Mi Tientes in Twilight to be precise. I typically start with a light construction line drawing in sepia pencil to get the proportions, then switch to Nupastel and a little Rembrandt stick. She sat for me a little over two hours. This person happened to love purple and lots of color, so I used purple in the shadow and orange, reds, greens, blues, and more in the image. The only black and brown I used were in her hair and eyes. Color is one way she likes to express her outgoing personality that was severely stifled by her abuser. I made a photo copy of this portrait and gave it to her as remembrance of how far she has come in her healing. If you are contemplating about having your portrait done, this is only one example. Each portrait is different, some more than others. The process of getting know these wonderful people as their painting or drawing develops is a real delight.