Talented Bay Area resident, 14-year-old artist Tyler Gordon received the phone call of a lifetime after he painted a portrait of Vice President-elect Kamala Harris.
@KamalaHarris My name is Tyler Gordon and I'm 14 years old and I live in the Bay Area! I painted this picture of you and I hope you like it!!! Please Rt and tag her so that she can see this. Please!!!@JoeBiden @DouglasEmhoff @SenKamalaHarris @WeGotGame2 pic.twitter.com/X0qtChKBf2
— Tyler Gordon (@Official_tylerg) November 23, 2020
The teen posted on Twitter a time lapse video of himself working on his piece and asked for people to retweet so that Harris could hopefully see his artwork.
“@KamalaHarris My name is Tyler Gordon and I’m 14 years old and I live in the Bay Area! I painted this picture of you and I hope you like it!!! Please Rt and tag her so that she can see this. Please!!! @JoeBiden @DouglasEmhoff @SenKamalaHarris @WeGotGame2.”
And of course, the internet went into action, and daughter of former President Bill Clinton, Chelsea Clinton, took it upon herself to help Tyler out and ensure that Harris didn’t miss the post by posting on her own Twitter feed, “Madame Vice President-Elect @KamalaHarris Flag of United States, check out this beautiful portrait of you by @Official_tylerg!”
Madame Vice President-Elect @KamalaHarris 🇺🇸, check out this beautiful portrait of you by @Official_tylerg! https://t.co/2JrmJoiueG
— Chelsea Clinton (@ChelseaClinton) November 25, 2020
And of course, the Internet fairies made it happen, and Harris called Tyler, enthusiastically thanking him for the piece and praising his talent.
Tyler was unquestionably over the moon with his phone call and very thankful to Vice President-elect Harris and to Chelsea Clinton for helping make it happen.
He tweeted, “She called me!!!!!! @KamalaHarris called ME!!!! Thank you so much Mrs. @KamalaHarris it was amazing talking with you today!!! Also thank you Mrs. @ChelseaClinton for believing in me and helping me to reach Mrs. Harris!!!”
Thank you so much Mrs. @KamalaHarris it was amazing talking with you today!!!
Also thank you Mrs. @ChelseaClinton for believing in me and helping me to reach Mrs. Harris!!! pic.twitter.com/5eA6Oy2WtG— Tyler Gordon (@Official_tylerg) November 26, 2020
Tyler explained to NBC Bay Area why he chose Harris as his subject for the piece.
“She broke through tons of barriers and I broke through tons of barriers myself with my stutter, me being in a wheelchair for two years and me being deaf since I was six,” he said in the interview. “I broke through tons of barriers and I feel like she represents that.”
But of course, Tyler didn’t stop there. He picked up his brushes again and started on a new piece, this time his subject, President-elect Joe Biden.
“I couldn’t have one without the other. I painted @JoeBiden because he stutters just like me. He showed me that speaking slowly kinda masks a stutter,” Tyler posted on Instagram.
In addition to the incoming administration, Tyler has painted other famous faces such as Michelle Obama, Bruno Mars, Kobe Bryant, among others. To see his full range of artwork, follow Tyler on Instagram and check out his website.
We have a feeling that we are going to see many many more amazing things from Tyler in the future.
