Lines from your Life
I have recently been developing a drawing project called: LINES FROM YOUR LIFE. This is a silent drawing project where one person at a time is seen—fully, without words—through a single, unedited drawing made in real time, honoring presence over portrait.
The Deep Water Literary Festival iteration.
It has had two iterations, one for 72 hours at the Deep Water Literary Festival in Narrowsburg NY and one 24 hour version in Callicoon NY. I was able to draw over 78 people combined. Here is the basic introduction to the work, let me knowlet me knowLMK if you feel a need for it in your area.
__________________________________________
One Person at a Time. One Drawing at a Time.
In a world of noise and distraction, this work offers something radical: presence.
For 72 continuous hours, artist Thomas Bosket inhabited a hand-built “drawing cave” behind the Tusten Theater as part of the Deep Water Literary Festival. Visitors entered one at a time. No words were needed. No likeness was captured. Instead, through stillness, through listening, through line—each person was seen.
Participants came to sit, to breathe, to cry, to laugh, to simply exist. In return, they received a drawing—an unfiltered trace of their being, made in the moment. Some called it spiritual. Others called it unforgettable. What it always was: true.
This was not about performance. It was not about art as commodity or image. It was about the subtle shift that happens when someone is witnessed without agenda—with full attention, without correction, in full acceptance.
You could speak, or not. Move, or not. Stay, or go.
Each drawing: a shared moment in flux.
Each line: a map of transformation.
Each encounter: a gift.
Why this matters now:
When everything is instant, this asks for patience.
When everything is public, this offers intimacy.
When so much is performative, this is real.
_____________________________________
HHJust in case you missed it, here are the Instructions:
If the curtain is open, you may enter quietly.
If the curtain is closed, the cave is occupied. Please wait.
When one visitor exits, the next may enter.
Tell your story—in words, gestures, or silence.
You may keep the drawing, or leave it.
If you post, tag: #linesfromyourlife #texpdwg
The experience takes the time it takes.
The artist may enter a trance. This is part of the process.
You are safe. Or safer. Or becoming so.
Thank you to everyone who stepped into the cave.
_____________________________________
Afterward, as many have asked...Why are you doing this project?
After my dad died I didn't know how to respond to people when they asked, "How are you doing?". I was sad, but also had a bunch of mixed up feelings and I couldn't find the words to convey my truth. One day I accidently had white paint on my face and went to meeting, someone commented that I had a mark on my face and I answered, "So do you," referring to their makeup, and admittedly a bit snarky...possibly a dog-'s like approach of my brain/heart allowing some of the grief and confusion to eek out. But it also soothed me...unexpectedly. And I found comfort in smearing paint on my face by choice when I felt this odd malaise creeping in. Over time I found other forms of nonverbal communication satisfying a need to connect meaningfully with others and that has now led to the development of Lines From Your Life.
Drawing from an individual session.