Every portrait Brian Peterson paints has the power to change a person’s life.

“I believe in my heart and my spirit that love always gives. Love is a giving action,” said Brian Peterson.

Peterson is a creative person who uses his talent by day as a car designer for Kia Motors in Irvine.

During his spare time, he created a passion project called “Faces of Santa Ana,” where he sets out to befriend and paint portraits of the homeless community in Santa Ana.

Peterson’s project began with a homeless man screaming outside his home in Downtown Santa Ana. Instead of closing his window and forgetting about the man, Peterson looked for him and wanted to hear his story.

“I think I saw beauty in the struggle, beauty in his pain. I hadn’t painted in eight years. It was just me stepping out and loving one person with my gift that started all of this,” said Peterson.

Peterson gets to know the people he wants to paint. He finds out what their story is and takes a black and white photo of them. From there, he lets the photo speak to him and inspire him to choose colors. He sells each painting for $2500 and splits the money with the person he painted.

“Some people use the proceeds for hotel rooms. Others choose to see family they haven’t seen in a while. We’ve even booked train tickets,” said Peterson.

Every time a painting gets sold, Peterson creates a "love account" for the subject, and they can use that money to start fresh.

Ruby Wilson admires a painting of herself
Ruby Wilson admires a painting of herself

Peterson met Ruby Wilson at a dinner and was immediately interested when he heard Wilson sing for her friends.

“I was like who’s this lady?” said Peterson.

He asked Wilson if he could paint a portrait of her and she said yes.

Wilson is a 26-year-old woman living in a shelter in Downtown Santa Ana. She is originally from Virginia, and been living in Orange County for the last five years.

“It’s really hard out here just being by yourself. You’re always on survival mode,” said Wilson.

She knows what she looks like, but what she doesn’t see in herself, others like Peterson notice.

“It’s cool that some people see me full of light and a lot of color. Sometimes I don’t feel that way, but it’s good that other people see me that way,” said Wilson.

Peterson collaborated with another local artist named Jorge Meza on Wilson’s portrait. Meza painted the background and added pink American dogwood flowers to signify Wilson’s home state of Virginia’s state flower.

Wilson burst into tears of joy and laughter when the two artists revealed their creation. Wilson’s dream is to become a singer. If her portrait gets sold, she says she’ll spend the money to help her reach her dream.

For more information on "Faces of Santa Ana," click here