118 Elliot Portrait Project

In March of 2020, finding ourselves suddenly isolated, a group of artists who had been planning a show at 118 Elliot started an online drawing group. We found that our drawing sessions were enhanced when we drew each other. Not only did it give us an opportunity to develop our skills of observation but we found it created a more relaxed relationship among online participants. The rhythm of our conversations became more natural and less strained as people worked quietly together. Conversations seemed to come and go in a natural easy-going way. We realized that the process of drawing and painting each other created a social connection that had been missing in other online activities.

Since then we have created a program to encourage others to engage in online portraiture. This is an idea open to all and there are no rules. Our objective is to help people make satisfying social connections while creating art that chronicles our difficult journey through the pandemic. We hope that others will find it a way to have a satisfying personal experience as much as a creative one.

If you would like to join a group send an email to tinakolsen@aol.com. She will send you an invitation to a Zoom session. If you are doing portraits on your own and would like to share them on our archive, please send images to plum@dti.net with subject bar PORTRAITS.

There will also be a curated show of portraits at 118 Elliot sometime in the spring.