When 17-year-old Cassie King is through with her senior project for Hampton Roads Academy, she will have left a lasting legacy for patients, visitors and staff at Sentara Obici Hospital.

King, the daughter of Dr. Brian King, a surgeon at the hospital, is painting a wall mural there that depicts a pair of hands turning into a butterfly. It’s still a work in progress, but when she’s done, there will be flowers, grass and a brilliant sky surrounding the centerpiece hands.

King, who is president of the National Art Honor Society at HRA, has been working on the project since August. She has documented her progress along the way for her eventual submission to the school, and her work has led her to do quite a bit of research into the emotional connections people make with colors.

Blues and greens — prominent colors in the mural’s grass and sky — are pacifying colors, she said. Warm colors like red and orange get blood flowing, and pink is soothing and motherly. Those colors will be heavily featured in the flowers surrounding the hands.

The mural is located at the intersection of the emergency department and radiology, making it a well-traveled hallway. Folks at the hospital have been watching the mural develop with great interest and have enjoyed the occasional opportunity to talk to the artist about her work.

For King, this is an opportunity to get a head start on what she hopes will be the dual focus of her coming college career — a double major in art and science.

For those who find themselves working at the hospital, being treated there or visiting loved ones receiving treatment, she hopes her work will have a soothing, therapeutic effect.

King’s project proves once again that anybody can use his or her talents to make a difference in someone else’s life.