Dr. Valarie Parisi Recognized with a portrait

I’ve been working hard, putting the finishing touches on this portrait. I love this painting and am very excited about it being presented in May.  The portrait honors Dr. Valarie Parisi for her years of service as Dean of the Wayne State University School of Medicine.

I think the painting captures Dr. Parisi’s serenity and quiet strength. It’s an evocative scene, expressing a relationship between her and those she has touched in her work.  It is a story of love, devotion and depth. It gives us a clear sense of her world, where she is very present and alive.  It also captures the special relationship she has with her dogs and their loyalty to her.  My primary goal in the painting was to express the compassion in her eyes, which was the first thing I noticed when I met her.