Mary Belle Meade devoted most of her time to portraits using oils and pastels.

Mary Belle Meade was a multifaceted artist.

She produced scenic and floral paintings, and she taught others how to become artists themselves.

She may have been best known for her portraits using oils and pastels, to which she devoted most of her time.

"It's a challenge to capture the personality of the person so that it will come across in the portrait," said a daughter, Kitty Meade Shield of Sabot, who learned to paint portraits from her mother.

Mrs. Meade, who studied at Sophie Newcomb College in New Orleans and the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts in Philadelphia, died Wednesday at her Richmond home. She was 97.

A native of Norfolk, Mrs. Meade moved to Richmond with her family when she was 18. She developed a love for art at an early age, picking up the talent from her mother, who also was an artist.

Mrs. Meade was a prolific painter, and she shared her talent with others as a teacher for those in the community interested in learning about watercolors and oils.

Many families in Richmond came to her for paintings of their families.

For instance, a portrait she did of the Rev. Earl Morey still hangs at St. Giles Presbyterian Church, where she was a member. She also was commissioned to paint three portraits of the C. Bascom Slemp, a former congressman from Southwest Virginia who died in 1943.

Each portrait she did looked just like subject of the painting, her daughter said. Mrs. Meade always caught some aspect of the person's character in her paintings, she said.

Mrs. Meade also painted a mural on her dining room's wall of Bermuda, where she honeymooned after marrying Dr. Thomas Stanley Meade. She took pictures during the trip and used them as a guide for the mural, her daughter said.

Mrs. Meade's husband died in 1990.

In addition to her daughter, Mrs. Meade's survivors include a son, Dr. Thomas S. Meade Jr. of Virginia Beach; another daughter, Prior Meade Cooper of Norfolk; a sister, Betty Long Sale of Jacksonville, Fla.; seven grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren.

A funeral will be held Monday at 2 p.m. at St. Giles Presbyterian Church, 5200 Grove Ave. in Richmond. Burial will follow at Hollywood Cemetery.