stories
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Although most of the patients I work with are homeless, not all are. Some of the sitters in these portraits are homeless and some are not. The paintings are my way of paying tribute to some extraordinary people. |
PETE Many of the
backgrounds of my paintings come from magazines that I find
in our clinic lobby. The background of Pete's portrait is
copy from a travel magazine that I found in the lobby. Not
many of our patients have the luxury of planning
vacations. KENNY In the lobby
of our clinic, things are often left behind by patients and
visitors. Frequently I find a wide variety of cans of food
and drink. The background of Kenny's portrait is Yoo-Hoo
chocolate drink. MARY I met Mary
at a soup kitchen where my grandmother helps serve lunch
every week. Mary first arrived there homeless. She is now an
employee there and has a home. The proceeds from her
painting will go to help the folks at the soup
kitchen. PATRICK Patrick is a
gentle, softspoken man. Grateful for the help he received
from someone downtown, he saved up his money and bought her
a thank you gift of several place settings of Lennox China.
Of course, he was instructed to return the gift but
nonetheless I will always be struck by his gesture of
kindness. CHARLES The
background of Charles' portrait is copy from one of many
issues of Golf Digest I've seen in our clinic lobby. In all
of my time at the clinic, I think I've met only one patient
there who golfed. JOHNNY COWBOY When I saw
him at the clinic for the first time, I exclaimed, "You look
like a real cowboy!" He smiled and immediately pulled out
photos of himself riding his favorite horses. He told me
that he had come to Seattle for a job that he had heard
about. When he arrived in Seattle, there was no job. While
he saved up enough money to return to the Southwest, he
stayed at a shelter downtown. He was real cowboy. His job
was shoeing mules that are used to deliver the mail to a
small village in the Grand Canyon. WALLACE When I
photographed Wallace for his painting, I could not get him
to smile. Of course when he saw the finished painting,
Wallace had on his face one of the biggest smiles I've ever
seen! ROYCE LARON One
afternoon Laron burst into the clinic lobby telling me about
an odd-job that he had spent the afternoon doing. He told me
that he received $30 for helping a man move some belongings
out of his house. Laron shouted, "That man had so many
things, Mary! It was one of the most amazing things I've
ever seen! He had more things than I thought one person
could have in an entire lifetime!" With a sense of wonder,
Laron went on about it for some time; "It was amazing,
Mary!" The background of Laron's painting is copy from a
magazine about simplifying our lives. GLANVILLE Glanville
always has a smile on his face. Often, I think he signs up
to see the doctor so he has a warm place to sit... he
frequently seems to disappear when it comes time for his
appointment. REVEREND RUFUS Rufus drives
an old truck around Pioneer Square and collects cardboard
for recycling. While I was working on his portrait I spotted
his truck parked in front of the clinic and as usual it was
piled high with cardboard. The background of his portrait is
print that was on one of the pieces of cardboard. ZORAIDA So excited
by the idea that the first portrait of her sold for new
socks for a homeless shelter in New York, Zoraida requested
that I paint her again. I agreed and she showed up at the
clinic to have her photograph taken dressed in a new hat and
her favorite bomber jacket. When she saw this second
portrait she exclaimed, "Paint me again! Another one
please!" GREG Most every
time I see Greg, he is wearing bright yellow, radio
headsets. EDDIE Eddie has a
dog named Foxy who he often brings with him to the
clinic. JANICE Janice left
me a beautiful letter in the clinic lobby one morning. She
wrote to me how much she enjoyed all of the paintings in the
clinic, however, brought it to my attention that there were
no portraits of female patients. In her letter, she shared
that she would be honored to have her portrait hang. The
background of her painting is copy from an ad for American
Express that read, "we all have things in
common." CAROLYN DOLORES HORACE I asked
Horace what he would like people to know about him. He said,
"Tell them I'm a survivor!". RON Ron always
has a twinkle in his eyes. The background of his portrait is
copy from an advertisement that reads, "happy". EDUARDO I asked my
friend to tell me something that she thought was special
about Eduardo. She told me that she once visited Eduardo's
home where she had never seen so many beans in her life! At
first thought, I wasn't sure about the beans. So the next
time I saw Eduardo I asked him to tell me something special
about him... he didn't say anything. Then I asked him to
tell me about his favorite food... With a huge smile,
Eduardo exclaimed, "Beans, Maria! I love beans!". As he went
on to list the name of every bean I've ever heard of, I knew
I had to include
it in
his portrait. CRYSTAL Although the
majority of the patients we see at our clinic are men, we do
take care of women as well. Crystal is one of the first
women to remind me to paint the women. CALVIN When
Calvin saw his portrait for the first time he screamed, " I
love what you did with my hair!" MINNIE MARK MARIA Maria is the
mother of one of our patients named Pedro. She lives in
Guatemala. Pedro works legally in the United States to earn
money to take home to his mother to help build her a home.
When Pedro is in Seattle working, he is homeless and sleeps
in the bus depot. JOSEFA No matter
how she's feeling, Josefa
always
comes to see the doctor dressed in some of the most elegant
clothing I've seen. MEREDITH When I
asked Meredith what he would like people to know about him
he said, "Tell them that I'm a survivor." He was the second
subject who gave me that answer in the same day. Meredith
died just before I completed his portrait. MATTHEW OSCAR After having
suffered a stroke, Oscar Peterson remains one of the world's
greatest jazz pianists while primarily playing with just his
right hand. I painted him to hang in our clinic and be a
source of inspiration for our patients. I also painted him
as a tribute to one of our patients named Peter. Peter was a
homeless man who stayed in the shelter. In a storage unit
somewhere in Seattle, Peter kept a piano. He would go to the
storage unit where he would practice his piano four hours
everyday. On the bottom of Oscar's jacket is painted the
hint of a lapel pin that reads "Shurgard Storage".
GARRY Garry spent
20 years working in the circus. His job was taking care of
the elephants, bears, lions and other big animals. I think
every person who meets Garry walks away feeling
happier. THOMAS Thomas used
to live in an old bakery delivery truck parked under the
Alaska Way Viaduct. He has his own apartment now. JIM Quite
sometime ago, Jim picked the spot on our clinic wall where
his portrait would hang. He called from the hospital and
said, "Mary! You take number one down and put my portrait up
right there!". CLARENCE Everytime
Clarence comes into the clinic, he announces, "Clarence is
in the house!". I say, "It's good to see you, Clarence!" and
he always responds, "Tell me something I don't
know!". TOMMY Tommy always
smiles, even in the worst of circumstances. When I asked him
what story I could write next to his painting, he said, "I'm
homeless.". VERONICA Veronica
says, "Everyone is a person." JIM Some days
Jim stops in at the clinic to share poems that he writes.
Other days he stops in just to drop off a boquet of
hand-picked flowers from around the neighborhood. HONEY Honey told
me I could paint her portrait for five dollars. I still owe
her the money.
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ROY When I took his photo Roy was concerned that he wasn't wearing a necktie. I assured him he was alright without the tie. |
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YUSSUF Yussuf asked me to paint his portrait and came to clinic a week later dressed in his best shirt. Although I had my camera with me, I forgot film. I gave Yussuf $10.00 and he ran to the store and bought film. The background of his portrait is a roll of film.
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TERRY The face tells the story.
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JOSE Over the last year, Jose and the other patients have been teaching me to speak Spanish. The background of his portrait is a Spanish-English dictionary.
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ISSAC Issac stops in the clinic once a week in search of a new pair of underwear and socks.
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HARRY Harry is an old tap-dancer from New York City.
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DAVID David lives near the clinic. In the morning and in the evening, when we come and go from work, David keeps an eye on us and makes sure everyone is safe. Often you don't know he's there but he is...and you feel safer for it.
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ROBERT The fellas love to smoke. Robert brought me an empty pack of cigarettes to use for the background of his portrait.
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THE CAPTAIN The Captain was a Vietnam veteran who was found living in a park with someone from the same outfit he had commanded during the war. It was a cold night and no one from the shelter could convince the Captain to come inside and get warm. Tipper Gore (who knew the Captain from her work with the homeless) asked her husband Al to help. Al wrote a note on official stationery that was taken to the Captain in the park, "Dear Captain, From one Vietnam vet to another...please go to the shelter and stay tonight...". With the note in hand, the Captain went to the shelter that night.
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AUNT ELMO I know Aunt Elmo only through stories a patient tells me each week. Aunt Elmo spent her life on a farm in Texas where she picked cotton in the fields and guided a plow as it was pulled by mules. This is what I imagine her to look like.
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DUPONT Dupont was a homeless street musician I met in Washington,D.C.
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ELMER Elmer stayed in the shelter while undergoing treatment for cancer. A man of very few words, he spoke with his face. Elmer loved to play solitaire.
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JERRY Twice a week Jerry would skip the shelter breakfast and ride the bus to the end of the line to his favorite destination - the waffle shop. He used to beam whenever someone got him talking about bus rides and waffles.
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ERNEST Ernest stayed at the shelter while battling cancer. He was as tall as a skyscraper, had shoulders as wide as a refrigerator and had hands as big as baseball gloves yet he is one of the most soft-spoken and gentle people I've ever met. Every time I came upon him in the shelter he was whispering to the plants.
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THE PROFESSOR He was a tall man who rarely spoke. Everywhere he went he toted a large bag at his side. Once a week he came to the shelter for a check-up, a shower and a hot meal. Rarely uttering a word during his visits, the Professor would sit down at the piano before he went back to the street each week. He would reach into his big bag and pull out a stack of handwritten sheet music and play some of the most beautiful music I've ever heard. When it was time to leave, the Professor would put his music back into his bag and without saying a word to anyone return to his home in the park. People called him the Professor because he was once a professor of music at a prestigious university.
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JOHNNY AND LOU (Mother Teresa's Rocking Chair) Johnny was an old homeless man who loved baseball and cigarettes. When he came to the shelter to recuperate from an illness, he spent all of his time smoking and listening to baseball games on the radio. After many years on the streets and a lengthy stay in the shelter, Johnny got into housing in a facility operated by Mother Teresa. For quite some time after Johnny moved into his new home, I would receive a weekly phonecall at the shelter...It was Johnny. Into the phone he would whisper, "Mary, is that you? Mary, you will never believe where I'm sitting right now! I'm sitting in Mother Teresa's rocking chair! I'm sitting in the actual rocking chair that Mother Teresa sits in when she visits! Can you believe it, Mary?!" Without saying another word, Johnny would abruptly hang up...only to call a week later and tell me again he was sitting in that rocking chair. In this painting, Johnny sits in the rocking chair smoking cigarettes with a favorite major leauge baseball coach. |
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telephone (206) 546-1062 all images & information copyright marylarson 2008