HOUSTON — A Missouri City artist is doing what she can to help frontline workers, the best way she knows how: Honoring them through art.
Melanie is a nurse. Sonia does anesthesia. Joaquin’s a firefighter.
They’re heroes at war for the world.
“I just want them to know they are beautiful, what they’re doing is very important and they’re superheroes," Kristi Nelson said.
Heroes who are now captured in color.
"My pictures are very vibrant and colorful, and I just hope they feel light and happy and joy whenever they look at them because they radiate," Nelson said.
Nelson said it all started on the sidewalk.
“I drew a very colorful, vibrant picture of a nurse with a mask on," Nelson said.
The mask covers the face but reveals the heart.
Kristi wanted to continue capturing their courage as only an artist can, by turning the pictures into portraits.
“It really just brought so much joy to me," Melanie Breitkreuz said.
A labor and delivery nurse at Houston Methodist, Melanie is one of the first people Kristi drew.
“I'm hoping that we will be able to look back at this time and see the good in things, and I think that’s a beautiful thing that she’s done," Breitkreuz said.
Kristi said when they're wearing masks, the expression is in their eyes.
“Some of them are very happy, some are very serious, and some of them just look very sad," Nelson said.
Their eyes become her focus.
“Kind of brighten them up whenever I'm drawing them," Nelson said. "Their eyes are what everybody’s seeing, only their eyes. Any emotion that you would normally see on a person, all you’re seeing are their eyes. Eyes tell so much. I really believe eyes are the window to the soul, you know.”
She hides their strain, so she can highlight their strength.
“I just feel like they don’t recognize how bright they are and how impactful they are to so many people," Nelson said.
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