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"Patsy
Arrington Dorsett is
truly a gifted
artist. She
has the unique
ability to capture
the elusive human
quality known as
spirit.
Because of this,
there is a vitality
to her work that is
so essential in fine
portraiture.
This rare ability to
unite image and
spirit is what
distinguishes her
work and sets her
apart from the
ordinary."
~~John de la Vega
Distinguished Portrait Painter &
Teacher, Composer, Poet, Writer, Director
Kitty Hawk, NC

Patsy Arrington Dorsett was born in
1951 in Roanoke, Virginia and now lives in
Hardy, Virginia near Smith Mountain
Lake. Her Portrait Studio/Gallery opened
in 1985 and is located in her hometown of
Vinton, Virginia six blocks from where her
love affair with art began as a teenager, and
she continues to pursue her love of
portraiture at this location.
Patsy began her art education in
1972 at Virginia Western Community College in
Roanoke where she studied graphic arts,
drawing, and painting with renowned
artists: John Brust, Myron Brody, and
Ruth Hamilton to receive her Associate in
Applied Science Degree in Commercial
Art. After working in the Commercial Art
field for several years, Dorsett's love for
people and painting caused her to change her
concentration to mainly portraiture in
1982. Studying the techniques of John
Howard Sanden, "the best known name in
contemporary American portraiture," Patsy's
realistic oil portraits began to emphasize
light, likeness, and personality.
Patsy studied portrait painting under
the teachings of John Howard Sanden, founder
of the Portrait Institute. Dorsett continued to paint
commissions in acrylic for 6 years using
Sanden's technical mixtures but not
oils. After a time of frustration in
1988, as she strived to become a better
portrait artist, Patsy changed to the
preferred medium of oils for her
paintings. They took on a new life, so
real, that they could almost breathe and
speak. Patsy Arrington Dorsett has since
studied with many international portrait
artists to sharpen and maintain a superior
level of performance in her art, including
Raymond Everett Kinstler, Daniel Greene,
Burton Silverman and Margaret Holland Sargent.
Most recently, she attended a workshop with
John de la Vega who said, "Patsy
Arrington Dorsett is truly a gifted
artist. She has the unique ability to
capture the elusive human quality known as
spirit. Because of this, there is a
vitality to her work that is so essential in
fine portraiture. This rare ability to
unite image and spirit is what distinguishes
her work and sets her apart from the
ordinary." With great
skill and precision she paints in oil the
beauty of the human form. Meticulous
attention is paid to facial detail, clothing,
jewelry and personal possessions of the
subject.
"Creating a portrait is a
special interaction between the artist and
subject. My passion is to paint this
generation for generations to come, and to
seize what is often held in the 'minds eye' so
as not to be lost forever" says
Dorsett. Since 1985, Patsy has worked
full time as a portrait artist and private
teacher out of her Vinton studio.
During the last few years, as Patsy Arrington
Dorsett seeks out and studies famous portrait
artists, broadening her talent has led her to
more corporate and private commissions.
Her work hangs in public and private
collections locally, throughout the region,
along the East Coast, Midwest, and Korea. Patsy Arrington Dorsett
specializes in family and corporate fine art
portraiture by commission.
Member of:
The
Portrait Society of America
The Arts
Council of the Blue Ridge
The
League of Roanoke
Artists
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