CLEVELAND — Cleveland artist Timothy Herron isn’t fond of drawing people through a screen, yet he’s had to adapt like many others because of the pandemic. Herron is the founder of “The Pretentious Cleveland Portrait Artists.” They’re a group of 20 to 30 people who, pre-pandemic, would meet every Friday in person to draw a volunteer from the community, solely to keep up their craft.  

“At heart I’m a plein air painter; I don’t like working from photographs or screens so much. I can and I do and that’s what COVID has done is put me in that position,” said Herron. “What it is, we just want steady practice. What I provide for everyone out there is steady practice. And the good thing is since all our models come from the general public, and I get the best drawings and give them to those models they experience something they can’t experience in any other state or city that I know of.”

Herron is currently working on a project that makes drawing people through a screen a bit more special. He draws doctors and nurses and other frontline health care workers to commemorate the heroic work they’ve done for the community during the COVID-19 pandemic. He, along with a few other “Pretentious Cleveland Portrait Artists” want to honor those who are giving so much of themselves, for the benefit of everyone else. 

“(It’s a) tribute to the ones that paid the highest risk — the nurses, doctors that expose themselves daily to the patients in their care that have COVID,” said Herron.

Herron reached out to some hospitals and acquired photos — many of them selfies — of doctors and nurses and other frontline workers. From those reference photos, a small group consisting of Herron, Janet Dodrill, Gary Johnston and Bob Pauly from Cincinnati, among a few others, draw the portraits.  

“It's something I can do. You know I don't have a lot of money to put money out to invest or help that way but I can draw. You know I don't have a lot of money to put money out to invest or help that way, but I can draw and paper doesn’t cost much. Pastels don’t cost much so in some way I give them a nice tribute to the efforts they’re putting in and the challenging times we’ve faced,” said Herron.  

“Their every day job is to help and save people from disease and injury,”  said Gary Johnston, a watercolor painter and engineer. “With COVID, they now had to do their jobs at great unknown risk to themselves. They quietly did their jobs, dealing with a dangerous unknown virus causing immeasurable suffering, pain and death. We socially distanced, washed our hands and had many annoying changes in our lives. Most of us did not have to actually deal with the virus. On a daily basis, they went to work to face the virus, its risk and its impact. (They are) extremely worthy of our admiration and appreciation, as well as maybe a painting or drawing.”

Along with honoring the health care workers, Janet Dodrill thinks it's important to document the time we’re in. 

“I remember hearing early on, on the news, that they wanted us all to stay home and let them do their jobs. So that was one way of maybe... lifting the load and having them enjoy something and give them something from the heart to the heart,” said Janet Dodrill, who is a graphic designer by trade. “Artists through time have always shown what is representative of the times. And we're doing the same.”

Collectively, the artists have made over 150 portraits. The paintings are on The Pretentious Cleveland Portrait Artists’ website, but they’re also at MetroHealth in an exhibit for the community to visit. 

“This project has just been extraordinary,” said Linda Jackson, director of Arts in Health at MetroHealth. “They are faces of MetroHealth caregivers, faces of Cleveland Clinic caregivers, some here in Cleveland, some in other communities around the country.

Jackson worked with Herron to help get him many of the reference photos.

“There’s nothing like art to help bring us together, to help tell our stories,” said Jackson. 

Despite the majority of the faces being covered with masks, it’s the eyes that tell the story. 

“It's amazing that the story you can just see in someone’s eyes,” said Jackson. "You see hope. You see struggle. You see pride, determination, (and) sometimes a little exhaustion maybe, (and) teamwork. There’s just so much," Jackson said.

“I feel like I'm becoming friends with them, even though I've never met them,” said Dodrill. “I look into their eyes and I know Tim's mentioned how important their eyes are, because that's about all you see when they have a mask on and a shield and sometimes something covering their head. And I see kind, gentle people as I'm drawing them. And it's amazing what they have to (do), how they have to dress and all the gear in order to do their job on a daily basis. But I feel... connected to them in a way, and I'm trying to show some sensitivity and some caring in my own way, even though I'm very far away from them.” 

Frontline workers have given such a gift to the community, so the portrait artists are using their talent in the best way they can to provide a small token of appreciation for everything they’ve done. 

“I hope the hospital workers can accept this small token of appreciation in a way of thanks. Never meeting any of these people in person, I hope I do them justice through the world of online renderings — in many cases fully masked — I tried to express their love, hopes, and at times, frustrations as a memory of times gone by,” said Bob Pauly, who used charcoal and pencils for his portraits. 

Most of the artists used bright colors in their portraits, helping to bring a bit of vibrancy to the doctors, nurses, hospitals and community.

“It's something that’s incredibly positive during a very difficult time,” said Jackson.

The health care workers are appreciative of the portraits, but the artists are trying to show theirs. Health care workers are thanking the artists, but it's the artists who truly want to say thank you to them. 

“It meant so much to our health care workers to be honored in this way, to be supported in this way, to see themselves in this way. And really there are so many different facets of the MetroHealth family here from the lab, pathology who worked on the COVID testing to the respiratory therapists, to our MetroHealth police, to our MetroHealth life flight to our emergency department to the critical care team, nurses and doctors — it’s just been extraordinary,” said Jackson. 

“There was a couple times when the person I painted commented that they had had horrible days and felt better after seeing their painting. That made my day,” added Johnston.

To learn more about the nurses and doctors in COVID times project or more about the Pretentious Cleveland Portrait Artists you can visit their website.