SABATTUS — Six years ago, Jeanelle Demers put a goal out in the world: The studio arts grad wanted to paint and sell 200 portraits to pay off her college loans.

Last month, she hit No. 200.

The loans are history, her paints are still out and, in hindsight, committing to 200 Faces was a gutsy move.

“When I look back, it was a little crazy to say, ‘I’m going to do 200.’ I’d done, like, 10,” said Demers, 28. “It accomplished a lot more than I really hoped; it became my identity as an artist.”

Demers, an Edward Little alum, painted the first face in February 2009: her own. She figured the project might take five years but couldn’t know for sure.

She painted couples, children and babies, often working off a customer’s favorite photo. Over six years, there was always at least one portrait in the works and one on deck, often more. She painted before work, nights and weekends at a modified table easel in her kitchen.

“I remember the first time somebody said, ‘Can you paint my dog?’ ‘Oh my gosh, I hope I can,'” she said.

Dogs ended up turning into a favorite. One, Frida, is painted from beneath, looking out into what, the viewer can’t be sure, the equivalent of a dog grin on her face.

“I feel like it symbolizes so many things,” Demers said.  “It makes me laugh; it’s the classic dog-head-out-the-window face. Dogs have that figured out, they really know how to be happy. It’s the simple things.”

In another painting, her friend, Nicole, drapes an orange cat named Goomba around her neck like a scarf.

“I just think it’s such a fun attitude,” Demers said.

The project turned into one long painting class. She figured out it’s better to start with a sketch and which brushes are best for pet hair and eyeballs.

“I know I can paint teeth now; I know I can paint glasses and all those tricky bits that might be tough,” she said.

Most paintings were done for Maine customers with sales coming through word of mouth, but her faces also shipped out to India, Germany and Bosnia.

Along the way, it turned into a “community art project and allowed me to meet so many people,” Demers said.

She retired $30,000 in loans from the University of Vermont two years ago but didn’t consider calling 200 Faces quits.

Demers, who works at Bedard Pharmacy and Medical Supplies in graphic design and marketing, has 10 paintings in process now, eight of them dogs.

She’s planning another large painting goal that she’ll announce later this year, but first, she’ll celebrate the finished one: There’s a 200 Faces closing show set for May 29 at Kimball Street Studios. 

Demers will hang some of the 200 Faces she’s held onto and ask people to come walk around with their portraits.

“It’s all kind of a blur, honestly,” she said.

kskelton@sunjournal.com