Gladys BuelThese are portraits that I did in the early 80s at the Carrboro
ArtCenter in Carrboro, NC. I was the moderator for a life drawing class
and I would often ask the participants of the Meet Your Neighbor Club
(which shared the same space with the center at that time) to model for
us instead of hiring a professional model. Over a period of about 5
years I drew a hundred or more drawings of over 35 seniors and used the portraits for my earliest
solo shows at the Carrboro ArtCenter and the Durham Arts Council. For over 30 years I've
kept all of those drawings safe in a box in my studio. Now, my nest is empty and I have the time to search for the families of all these subjects. I want to give them the portraits of their loved ones.
UPDATE:
I did manage to find homes for most of the portraits. I had a show of them at the Seymour Center, Orange County's senior center. I made a poster with all of the images on it and handed the posters to local families who brought it to their churches to share with their elders. There was also good local newspaper coverage for the exhibit.
I set a date for the families to come pick up the original drawings after the show was over and by the end of the day there were only a few portraits left. I also ended up making prints for relatives--since some of the families were large and not necessarily on good terms.
The whole experience was immensely gratifying. So many people, who I did not know, helped me find the families. And the response the families had only heightened my sense of accomplishment. For so, so many years that box of drawings nagged at the back of my mind--and now I have finally brought that project to completion!
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