[ MAUKA-MAKAI ]
WHEN a talented artist with a heart of gold has a career crisis, a call to Stuart Parks Forensic Consultants in Massachusetts can do wonders for the soul. Just ask Kaneohe sketch artist Michelle Verfaillie, whose work in the past six months has led to a number of leads in criminal cases and a pair of positive IDs. A pencil for the prosecution
An Oahu artist turns her talent
to the pursuit of crime suspectsBy shawn 'speedy' lopes
slopes@starbulletin.com"I really wanted to help people," explains Verfaillie, a free-lance artist who once gave up a job at a museum to become a physical therapist's assistant. Torn between artistic and humanitarian endeavors, she decided to combine her desire to help others with her natural flair for art by becoming a composite artist.
While there are several institutions in the United States offering instruction in composite drawing and forensic art, many consider Stuart Parks Forensic Consultants to be at the top of their field. The award-winning husband-and-wife team of Rick and Carrie Parks has taught more classes than all other schools combined and has even instructed artists from the FBI.
Verfaillie headed to Massachusetts and paid $500 for an intensive five-day, 40-hour week of training in composite drawing, but she believes it was well worth the price. "I have a five-year degree in art, but I learned so much from this one class. There's a lot that I wouldn't be able to do if I hadn't taken that course."
Much of what a good composite artist knows can be gleaned only through instruction at a certified school, she says. For example, how can an artist best deduce information from a witness? In unsolved cases of missing children, how does an artist account for age in an updated sketch? How can one positively determine when a witness's information does not add up?
GEORGE F. LEE / GLEE@STARBULLETIN.COM
Composite artist Michelle Verfaillie works out of her open-air Kaneohe patio.
While the overwhelming majority of those asked to give a description of a crime suspect are legitimate witnesses, there are rare instances in which a subject with a hidden agenda will become elusive or misleading with investigators. Those who appear to be too friendly with the artist or overly complimentary on his or her drawing can raise suspicion in a seasoned sketcher. Obvious inconsistencies can also raise warning flags. "I'm also helping the investigation because I'm getting part of the story from the victims or witnesses," Verfaillie says.
ALTHOUGH SHE enjoys her work, Verfaillie realizes it may be a while before it becomes a full-time gig. In the meantime she spends the majority of her working day as a free-lance artist, showcasing her work at various shops and galleries around Oahu.
"It's very hard, I've found, especially in Hawaii, to break in. Not being from here has made it difficult to get my name around," says the former Cape Cod, Mass., resident, "but it's slowly starting to get out there."
Part of the problem is that there aren't many available openings here or on the mainland, and only a handful of sketch artists in the country are able to make a living strictly through free-lance sketch work. The Honolulu Police Department currently employs two full-time composite artists, to whom Verfaillie is grateful for sharing some of their knowledge.
"They're great. I spent an hour and a half just hanging out and talking. I saw their drawings and they're excellent. They're very busy, by the sound of things."
It was Verfaillie's husband, Tim Donovan, an employee of the Naval Criminal Investigative Service, who helped her land her first assignment several months ago. "He's the one who actually put the bug in his supervisors' ears about me being able to draw," she says with a slight chuckle.
"After the first sketch, I got a call back from the NCIS, and I've now done four for them in the past six months, two of which I've had 'hits' on."
While Verfaillie is considered a fast sketcher (a drawing will take an average of two to three hours to complete, she says), much hinges on witness ability to recall pertinent information. "A drawing is only as good as the victim's memory," she affirms. "You're not doing a portrait, which is the hardest thing about doing something like this. I've done my job only when the victim says, 'That's what I remember (the perpetrator) looking like.' Once they say 'stop', that's it."
STATISTICS SHOW sketch artists are used in only 15 percent of all reported cases while experts believe more than 40 percent of all cases could benefit from their services. Regular work may be hard to come by, but the good news for Verfaillie is that female composite artists are valued for their ability to relate to and communicate with female victims.
"A lot of rape victims and female assault victims feel more comfortable working with a female artist. It sets them at ease. As a woman myself, if something like that happened to me, I would want to deal with a female. That's what I want to offer people."
Verfaillie says many agencies can benefit from a female sketch artist, and rape crisis centers in particular would do well to utilize her services. Anyone wishing to contact her can do so at 381-5860.
"For me, it's just part of what I do," she explains. "It's something I love because I feel like I'm helping people."
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