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A Carmel artist is creating free portraits of coronavirus victims for their families - IndyStar

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Lawrence and Patsy Adcock weathered many storms together. Hurricane Katrina leveled their home in Mississippi. After moving to Indy, Lawrence struggled with MRSA as Patsy’s Parkinson’s symptoms worsened. She often lost her balance, and Lawrence would fall to the ground trying to catch her.

Even while in a nursing home, the two were inseparable. They teased each other and bickered jokingly. Staff members asked them for the secret to their marriage.

Lawrence Adcock died from the coronavirus March 29. The next day, Patsy Adcock started running a fever. Ten days later, she died at age 83 on April 8  — what would have been her husband’s 87th birthday.

“In a strange way, we’re thankful they went together,” said Kelli Brooks, their daughter and a Westfield resident. “They always wanted to go together. In a way, it was a blessing.”

The Adcocks had just celebrated their 65th wedding anniversary. Patsy Adcock had lost weight, and her ring no longer fit on her finger. When her husband died, he was wearing both of their wedding rings.

“They had the kind of love that people dream about,” Brooks said.

A few weeks after her mom died, Brooks’ supervisor told her about an artist in Carmel who was painting free portraits of victims of the coronavirus.

Brooks immediately knew the photo she should send to the artist. A few years ago, when her dad realized his wife’s health was declining, he organized a professional photoshoot. Brooks chose a photo of the two sitting on a bench together.

In June, her supervisor delivered the finished portrait to her.

“I was caught off guard by how beautiful it was and how it captured who they were,” Brooks said. “It’s a snapshot of how we last saw them.”

People had brought her gifts, meals and flowers after her parents died. But meals are eaten, and flowers die.

“This is something I can always hold onto,” she said.

The artist behind the portraits

The artist behind the portraits is Sabrina Zhou, a still life, landscape and portrait painter who was born in Chongqing, China, and now lives in Carmel.

Someone from her church sent Zhou an email about North Central High School athletic director Paul Loggan, who died April 12 of COVID-19. He became the subject of her first portrait in this project.

While her color portraits typically cost $249, and black-and-white cost $199, Zhou has been painting the portraits for free for families who’ve lost loved ones to the coronavirus, with a goal of 50.

The coronavirus has brought difficult times for Zhou as well. She and her husband are both artists and rely on art shows and private lessons. With the pandemic, these income sources have dried up.

But Zhou still wants to use her art to help others during the pandemic.

“I can’t imagine how hard it has been for these families,” she said. “And if there’s anything I can do to ease their pain, I will.”

Zhou starts with a photograph of each subject. The first thing she looks at is the eyes. Next, their smile.

“Human faces are the most difficult to draw,” she said. “Not only the structure and muscles, but the expression and personality can be difficult to capture.”

The painting process can be emotional for her as well. Sometimes she takes a break and steps away from the easel.

To thank her, families have sent her notes, a bottle of red wine, lilies that fill her studio with their scent as she works. Zhou said she’s been overwhelmed by the responses of family members and hopes her portraits offer them some comfort.

“I want to bring them and their personality and spirit back to life in some way for their loved ones,” she said.

The portrait of Jim Baker

Zhou’s seventh portrait was requested by Lucille Pittard, a 63-year-old Carmel resident, to depict a man Pittard had never met.

Pittard met Lorraine Baker at her husband’s nephew’s wedding in August 2018. Since then, the two became Facebook friends and chatted occasionally. It wasn’t until Pittard heard that Lorraine’s husband, Jim, was in the hospital with the coronavirus that the two became closer.

A week after he died, Pittard read a story about Zhou’s portraits. She immediately thought of her friend and emailed Zhou, requesting a portrait. The next day, Zhou told her she would paint the portrait.

“Just all of a sudden, he’s gone,” Pittard said. “After her life had been turned upside down, I thought (Lorraine) could have a little piece of him back through this portrait.”

Pittard told her sister-in-law, a close friend of Baker's, about the portrait. Pittard's sister-in-law called Baker's daughter to get her permission before Zhou began the portrait. When she heard about the gesture, she cried.

“My mother will love it,” she said.

Weeks later, Pittard stopped by Zhou’s house to pick up the portrait. Before leaving, Pittard left tulips and a thank you message.

Last month, Pittard and her husband delivered the portrait to Baker in Michigan.

When she saw the portrait, she gasped.

“My Jim,” she said, holding onto the portrait. She then turned the portrait to face her and kissed him.

Hanging the portrait

Brooks framed the portrait of her parents and made copies for her three brothers. She planned to bring the portrait to a memorial service, which was postponed as COVID-19 cases rose. But she hadn’t hung the portrait yet.

First, she would have to put the delicate pastel portrait behind glass or treat it with a fixative to help preserve it. But she also doesn’t feel completely ready to have it up on her wall.

“Some of it is just feeling ready to sit with it,” she said. “It’s all pretty fresh.”

The pandemic interrupted her grieving process. She wasn’t able to be with her parents when they died. Her mom died in a nursing home surrounded by the staff members who cared for her. Her dad died alone in the hospital with only a nurse holding his hand.

Not seeing her parents before they died kept Brooks from grieving fully, but seeing their faces in the portrait helped.

Read their stories: The Hoosiers we've lost to COVID-19

Despite her dad’s happy personality, he rarely smiled in photos. In this photo, he had a half-smile that Zhou had turned into a grin for the portrait. Somehow, it looked just like he did when he smiled.

“She captured their spirit,” Brooks said.

Her parents gave Brooks their old upright piano before they died. Her childhood was spent sitting at the piano with her parents and brothers, singing along to church hymns. Now she thinks of them whenever she hears church music.

“Maybe that’s where I’ll hang it,” she said. “Just above the piano.”

Contact Pulliam Fellow Christine Fernando at cfernando@gannett.com.

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A Carmel artist is creating free portraits of coronavirus victims for their families - IndyStar
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