HOW I STARTED DOING CHARCOAL BABY PORTRAITS
Within hours after my daughter Rachel was born (by way of a C-Section) I did a charcoal drawing of her lying in the bassinet next to my bed. I was pleased with the drawing and thankful that it turned out well in spite of my grogginess from the anesthetics. Everybody liked it--my family, the nurses, the cleaning ladies and my doctor as well. 'Wow! It looks just like her!' But that comment surprised/bothered me--what did they expect?! After all, I am an artist and if I draw my baby it should look like my baby!
But then I began to realize that many people didn't see how unique each baby is—they honestly thought that all babies looked the same. So I started thinking that perhaps there would be a market out there for the kind of baby portraits I knew that I could do--a portrait that showed each baby as its unique, distinctive self.
So I tucked the idea in the back of my mind and waited for a time when my daughter had grown a bit and I personally was ready to go out again into the world as an artist. When Rachel was four I approached a local hospital with the idea of offering my drawing skills as a service for their new families. It took about 8 months for the administration to do their part and the program started under the auspices of its volunteer auxiliary. Two days a week, for 12 years, families were offered the usual photographs of their babies, plus an opportunity to have a charcoal portrait done of their newborn. After taking orders, the auxiliary lady would call me and I'd come to the hospital-- sometimes to draw as many as 8 babies in a day! I became so adept at drawing them that I could pat a fussy baby with one hand and draw with the other hand—sort of like patting your head and rubbing your stomach at the same time. Not easy, but when I focused I could do it.
Although I am no longer working with DRH, I still on occasion do drawings at local hospitals when called upon by families; but mostly I work in my studio--drawing babies from life or working from photos. Since 1988 I've drawn over 3500 portraits and I continue to get orders locally and nationally from parents at the birth of each new addition to their family. Out of all the charcoal baby portraits I have done over the years, I've only had a small handful of people who were unhappy with the drawing and I gladly returned their money.
The Homeless People Project
The photo below is of me with my Homeless People Project. I had started the project in 1991, drawing and interviewing residents of several homeless shelters in my community--trying to promote my career as an artist in the fine arts as well a desire to use my talents to do something good for the world. I hoped that if I could get my project out into the world with a traveling exhibit or a book, that the portraits, along with the individual's story would help break down damaging stereotypes that many people have of the homeless.
In 2001 I received a major grant from the North Carolina Humanities Council. Before that, the project was supported almost entirely by the monies I earned drawing babies, except for a few small grants I received from the Durham Arts Council. The Humanities grant provided me with the funds to go back into the project and find the people I had interviewed years earlier to see if and how their lives had changed. Many I could not find, some had died, some remained homeless and still others were doing exceptionally well.
If you would like to see more about the Homeless People Project, go to: http://www.nchumanities.org/publications/crossroads/xrd0302.pdf
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