Portraits help isolating elderly feel ‘connected’

Resident Lyn Irwin-Porter said seeing the portraits all together made her feel "happy"

Shielding retirement home residents said they felt more “connected” after their portraits were painted during the lockdown.

Dr Marylane Barfield decided to paint her fellow residents at Magpie Court in Hanham, near Bristol, to help keep her “sane”.

The 14 portraits are being revealed to the subjects during December 2020.

The paintings will also be exhibited at the Royal Birmingham Society of Art in 2021.

They were created from photographs as the residents within the retirement village are all shielding currently.

Dr Barfield was originally born in Detroit, Michigan, and graduated from Michigan State University with a degree in Fine Art, settled in Birmingham in the UK, and has spent her life as a professional artist.

She moved from Birmingham to the Bristol retirement village in 2019 to live closer to her family after her husband died.

Resident Patricia Mead said seeing the portrait made her feel like her community was “still together”

The professional artist said: “I needed a project to keep me sane during the lockdown.

“It was amazing to hear people’s stories during the project, like residents who were engineers who worked on Concorde, teachers, someone who came from Papua New Guinea.

“They all had unexpected stories.”

Resident Patricia Mead, 80, said seeing her portrait was “just lovely” and meant the community was “still together”.

Dr Barfield spent her career as a professional artist and president of the Birmingham Royal Society of Art

She said: “We can’t all get together like we used to but seeing the paintings really helped.”

Retirement home resident Lyn Irwin-Porter said it was “emotional” to see all the paintings together on show.

She said: “Unfortunately, we lost one lady since we moved here so it was a nice reminder to see her portrait.

“The whole thing made everyone feel more connected.”

Nicki Beswarick, marketing manager at the home, said: “She’s really been helping to keep spirits high for other homeowners during this difficult time, so we’d like to extend a huge thank you to her.”