Kristin Edens paints portrait of radio legend

Photo by Jessica Li

On July 4, third-year painting major Kristin Edens from Lagrange, Illinois, arrived in New York City for an internship. She worked for Christie’s in an estates and appraisals department that conducts highly honored auctions for various areas of fine arts.

“I worked with the client information … the lot information, and of course I did some of the binding and some of the delivering, but it was great,” said Edens. “I met a lot of great people.”

One of these people introduced her to radio specialist Joe Franklin. Franklin conducts show business interviews as part of the “Bloomberg on the Weekend” radio magazine.

“A couple days later, I emailed him, but I was leaving in four days … so I thought there’s no chance this is going to work out,” said Edens. “He said, ‘Oh, if you’re leaving, why don’t you come by Saturday to my office?’ I was astounded… I [thought] this can’t be true.”

Edens and a friend went to Franklin’s office building by Times Square, overwhelmed by the cramped space that made up his work environment.

“You [couldn’t] move because it was stacked with small items,” said Edens. “It was almost like he was hoarding, but it was all memories… papers and email conversations and pictures and songs from famous singers and paintings from famous painters.”

After seeing some of Edens’ work on her website, Franklin discussed her artwork on a live video feed.

“It was very casual. [He talked about] what he thought of my art and then we showed some of my pieces of art on the screen,” Edens said. “And then I started drawing the portrait of Joe. It was just me sitting next to him and the process … It was very nerve-wracking.”

Franklin, however, was more than relaxed.

“He fell asleep while I was painting him,” Edens said. “I’ve never painted a sleeping man before, so that was unique.”

Franklin liked the ink and watercolor portrait when he woke up even though Edens said she felt she’d rushed it. The entire experience lasted three hours.

“We’re going to stay in touch,” Edens said. “I’m very honored.”