Artist Carole Kabrin in her studio, standing by a biblical-themed drawing in progress.
Top: The trial of Oklahoma Federal Building bomber Timothy McVeigh,
shown with his lead attorney Steven Jones, went on for two-and-a-half
months.
Above: Panamanian strongman Manuel Noriega dressed in his military
uniform for his trial on drug trafficking.
The courtroom art of Carole
Kabrin is currently on display on
the second floor of the Theodore
Levin Federal Courthouse,
231 W. Lafayette, Detroit.
Other examples of her work
can be found on her website,
theprofessionalportrait.com .
ceedings. At one point, when the judge
asked him to stand, he remained seated
and began to prop his feet up on the table,
pointing the soles of his shoes at the judge
in an Islamic display of disrespect. He was
immediately ordered to stand.
Kabrin saw the irony of an Islamist ter-
rorist on trial before a Jewish female judge,
Nancy Edmunds, while being drawn by a
Jewish female artist.
"At the trial, Umar looked at me twice
with a long gaze Kabrin said. "I hear he
doesn't look at women, but I think he was
wondering what I was doing as I stared
at him while I drew. I found myself turn-
ing away from his intense gaze because I
wasn't sure how to deal with him. On one
hand, compassion for a young man in big
trouble, on the other hand, confusion how
to deal with his hate."
Kabrin sold the drawings to CNN, Fox
News Channel and Reuters as well as
Detroit TV stations and the Middle East-
based news channel Aljazeera.
For 12 years, she worked exclusively
for ABC News, covering major trials and
the U.S. Supreme Court. She also covered
President Bill Clinton's sexual harass-
ment lawsuit brought by Paula Jones and
the Bush v. Gore Supreme Court case that
settled the 2000 presidential election.
Cameras In The Courtroom
How does Kabrin feel about the prevalence
of TV cameras appearing in most non-
federal courtrooms?
"I consider myself both a journalist and
an artist," she said. "Thus, I feel mixed. As
a journalist, I'm thrilled to see the courts
opened up to live coverage. As a court-
room artist, of course, this means my pro-
fession could disappear."
Kabrin still has plenty of business. She's
sold many of her drawings to attorneys
and judges, even criminal defendants.
Attorneys proudly hang the TV news-like
"action" drawings in their offices and post
them on their websites. She does commis-
sioned portraits not only of attorneys, but
also of other professionals, children and
families. She's taught figure drawing at the
College for Creative Studies in Detroit for
the past eight years.
Kabrin realized as a college student that
courtroom drawing was her calling. She
spent thousands of her spare hours teach-
ing herself to draw fast and earned a mas-
ter's of arts degree in drawing at WSU.
"In covering a trial," she said, "you need
the news judgment to decide what's impor-
tant, and you have to draw very, very quick-
ly. You work in a frenzy" Kabrin draws with
charcoal and provides color with pastels.
During her career, Kabrin won an
Emmy in Detroit for her work with
WXYZ-TV. Nationally, ABC News flew her
all over the country, and often she would
be away from home for months at a time
covering a trial. Was it worth it?
"I love television:' she said. "I loved hav-
ing my artwork on World News Tonight
with Peter Jennings, Nightline and Good
Morning America.
"But most of all, I love to draw." Fl
November 17 2011
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