"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 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.