None of the 10 museum guards who took part in Amy Stein's portrait-drawing workshop on Monday morning plan to switch careers any time soon.

But they all managed to turn out a portrait within four hours in a class designed to give them a better understanding of the work they are guarding.

Ten guards (six from the New Mexico Museum of Art and four from the Georgia O'Keeffe Museum) used charcoal and pastels to make a portrait under Stein's guidance. She made it clear that the workshop wasn't geared toward turning novices into artists in half a day.

"Next time you see a portrait," Stein told them, "you're gonna know how the artist did it. It's just about breaking it down into steps."

Stein, who has lived in Santa Fe for about 30 years, is both a portrait artist and a courtroom artist. She said she was inspired to host this workshop after a conversation she had with guard Steve Allbritton (who took part in the workshop) at the O'Keeffe regarding an exhibition of contemporary artist Susan Rothenberg.

Allbritton had previously spoken with Rothenberg about her work and offered to tell Stein what the artist was trying to convey. After the workshop was over, Allbritton and several other guards said that most museum patrons ask them about the art hanging on the walls.

Stein said after her encounter with Allbritton, she realized, "I don't know who the guards are. I didn't usually interact with them."

Turning to the group, she said, "Your job does not define you. You are much more than your jobs."

After teaching them the basics of light, contrast and color, she set them about creating, reminding them that there was no "wrong" when it came to creating art. "Don't worry about product," she said. "It's not like you have to sell it."

Despite her enthusiastic and sometimes amusing encouragement, for about half the workshop, many of the guards cast glances at one another's work, as if to make sure they were all on the same creative path.

But they weren't, as the results proved. One O'Keeffe guard, Don Perea, said he was under the impression that the workshop was designed for self-portraiture, which is why he created an image of his alter-ego, Sa Mila (Red Knife), a Lakota warrior.

Perea said he hadn't made art since he was in the fourth grade. Several of the guards recalled being discouraged from creating art by teachers or peers after their grade-school attempts.

Another guard, Esperanza Salazar (the only woman of the group), made a lavender-heavy portrait of a dark, sensuous woman whose attitude suggested she was "distant," as Stein put it.

"She's a knockout," Stein said. "Who is she?"

Salazar shrugged and feigned ignorance, but later, several of her coworkers suggested there was a lot of Salazar in that portrait.

A few guards were hesitant to talk about their finished work, and Stein honored their right to silence. A few others expressed more than expected when they revealed how the portraits spoke of family members who were going through pain, loss, depression and fear.

George Darling, another O'Keeffe guard, drew a woman. At first he denied there was any meaning in the piece, but then, upon reflection, told the group the lady in question was a former dance partner who had since moved to New York.

"You should call her," Stein suggested.

"I don't think her husband would like that," Darling said, garnering a laugh.

Allbritton created a character named Tom who may have been a younger version of himself. "He gave me peace," he told Stein and company about the gift this charcoal-and-pastel muse passed on to him. "I didn't have a lot of peace in my life when I was younger."

After the workshop, Allbritton said it was both emotional and inspiring to see his peers expressing themselves in this manner. He acknowledged that when he started working at the Georgia O'Keeffe Museum more than six years ago, he didn't know anything about the artist.

"She gave a great gift to the world," Allbritton said of O'Keeffe. "That's how she shared with the world how she felt about her family, her friends, the land around her."

"They are now practicing artists," Stein proudly said of the group near the workshop's end. Then she turned to the 10 and asked if they preferred being guards or artists.

They all answered, "Guards."

"I knew you would come to your senses," she said.

Contact Robert Nott at 986-3021 or rnott@sfnewmexican.com.