A Wirral artist got the “best feeling ever” when she realised one of her favourite celebrities had shared her work.
Every Thursday, Loren Hand, from Neston, picks a celebrity to draw of her choice in what she calls a “Thursday Doodle”. The 28-year-old has previously drawn the likes of Miley Cyrus, Dolly Parton, Cher and Angelina Jolie.
However, after Loren met former Pride Quarter DJ The Vivienne on a train to Manchester, the portrait and realism artist knew the drag queen was next on her list. Over the period of three days, Loren drew James Lee Williams, as his alter ego in black-and-white, before sharing the final piece on Facebook.
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She told the ECHO: “It felt amazing for The Vivienne to share my drawing to their profile. After seeing James on the train I messaged him and he replied, I was so taken aback by his reply, most celebrities never see fans' messages.
“I am a massive drag race fan, I absolutely love it. I just love the freedom of it all, the talent of the queens, and the humour and comedy of it all.
“I was completely star-struck when I saw James on the train, I was standing behind him - not knowing it was him - then he turned around because the door was broken and I froze because I recognised him straight away. I have always been a big fan, he looked amazing, with big sunglasses on, and a bag over his arm.
“When we got off the train I grabbed my fiancée’s arm and kept saying 'oh my god, that's The Vivienne’, I couldn’t believe it. She didn’t know who The Vivienne was but she does now.”
The Vivienne isn’t the only star to have noticed Loren’s work with Ricky Gervais having previously liked one of her posts and The Voice USA’s Sarah Potenza acknowledging a TikTok of Loren’s.
Loren, who focuses on realism, landscapes, and family portraits, said: “Seeing the 2,100 likes on my drawing of The Vivienne made me very emotional, I cried. I couldn’t believe that many people had taken the time to stop and like it, it was honestly the best feeling and I hope that happens more often in the future.
“It’s very hard as an artist to make a living from it, but I’m going to keep trying and hopefully the hard work pays off. I just want to spend every day doing the thing I love.”
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