Blog Homepage

Covid stories: “I set up the ‘Home Portrait Society’ on the first day of lockdown”

Dan, Cardiff, 2 June 2020

Dan's contribution to the Collecting Covid: Wales 2020 questionnaire project.

I'm living in Roath in Cardiff in a terraced house with my wife. My grown up kids both live in England. We haven't seen our sons or their girlfriends since it all blew up. I haven't seen my 88 year old mother either.

I set up the ‘Home Portrait Society’ on the first day of lockdown. I'm a semi professional singer and writer but had not really tried art since failing O' level in 1980. Just before lockdown I started doing portraits of people I knew and enjoyed it. Others said to me "Oh I wish I could paint" and I said well you are probably as good as me. So I set up a Facebook page. In the 10-11 weeks of lockdown over 50 artists ranging from never done a picture before to professional illustrators and art teachers have got involved with artists aged from five to 88 (my mum) have contributed 400 portraits. I have contributed a portrait a day and have moved from bad sketches to watercolours and oils. All the artists have grown in confidence and have rekindled old friendships or found new ones.

Comments are currently unavailable. We apologise for the inconvenience.