PERSONAL POEMS • BOOKS & ZINES • DIVINATION TOOLS • JEWELRY • 1" BUTTONS • ILLUSTRATED MUGS • ART PRINTS • ALL
– AN ONGOING PROJECT –
POET PORTRAITS
In 2013, I drew a series of portraits of authors for a window display at the Brattle Bookshop. The drawings were done in sharpie on transparency, and each portrait was framed with colorful construction paper borders. After they came down from the display, I took them home and squirreled them away in my archives, tucked in between all the other art I had made for windows at the Brattle. I didn't think much of them, though they had been really fun to draw and everyone seemed to love them.
One day, when going through our personal archives, Brett found the stack of Author Portraits again and wouldn't stop going on about them. He loved them so much! He told me that he wished I would draw more, or share them, and one day I found them hanging on the wall in our studio. The more I looked at them, the more I knew I wanted to do more. And every once in a while, seemingly unprompted, Brett will remind of that project and implore me to make something from it. In 2019, I began this project, Poet Portraits, as a way to touch back on that work while connecting in a new and more engaging way with the poets that have meant so much to me. Poet Portraits is also an opportunity for me to share those poets from my personal pantheon with all of you. A part of the Free The Poem movement, I hope that this project will help to inspire others the way in which these incredible artists have inspired me. The way in which Poetry, itself, inspires me! I am also interested in drawing your favorite poet! Please feel free to suggest a poet to me. If I enjoy their work, I will gladly add them to my list of poets to be illustrated and featured! I will be continually adding to this gallery as I finish new portraits. |
© NOTE: ALL DRAWINGS © ELLEN ARNSTEIN. ALL POETRY QUOTED IS CLEARLY CREDITED TO AUTHOR AND PUBLISHER AND NO COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT IS INTENDED IN THE USE OF THEIR WORDS. QUOTES ARE USED WITH BEST INTENTIONS AND IN THE PURSUIT OF HONORING FAIR USE. IF YOU WOULD LIKE YOUR MATERIAL REMOVED, PLEASE EMAIL ME AND I WILL GLADLY TAKE IT DOWN. WITH LOVE <3, E.