Workhouse Artist of the Week: Marni Maree

Watercolor artist Marni Maree has come a long way from drawing on the wall behind her childhood bedroom door with chalk.

“We had this great paneling, just behind the door,” Marni said. "I’d draw on there, and the door would open and my parents wouldn’t know it was there. One day they shut the door from the inside and said: 'What’s all this yellow in between the paneling?' I just remember thinking that I was in so much trouble. But I sort of remember them laughing, thinking it was pretty clever.”

Bedroom graffiti aside, Marni’s developed her artistic talents in grade school. “There was a free class in Philadelphia and you had to be in the 5th grade and I got in,” said Marni. “I was so nervous because you had to be accepted. I got there and, oh! It was heaven.

“I took it so seriously. I remember being in the class just thinking, you know, give me some more supplies… I’m ready!" Marni said.

Marni’s studied commercial design at Moore College of Art and Design in Philadelphia. “I just loved it there,” she said. “I lived at home and commuted for three years. It used to take me an hour to commute with this big portfolio. I just think of all those people who probably got mad at me on the buses and subways—I would have to take everything I would possibly need for the day.”

College was funded by a scholarship and Marni’s part-time work answering phones and creating graphics at the Navy Depot. It was there that she met and married her husband Ron right out school. After a move to the Washington, DC area, she interviewed for jobs.

“I wanted to work for the Smithsonian,” said Marni. “I interviewed there a lot—but I got pregnant right away. “When I was eight months pregnant, I got hired part-time by Fairfax County Schools in the media center’s graphics department.” 

Marni stayed with the County for two more pregnancies and left after the birth of her youngest son. She picked up her pencils and began sketching the daily life of her son. “You know how some people do baby books for their child?” asked Marni. “I did a sketch book. I drew him when he was asleep, I drew his toys, I just drew where we went. I was always drawing.”

Marni joined the Springfield Art Guild and rediscovered a love for watercolors. When the Workhouse opened in 2007, Marni was one of the first artists to sign a lease and featured her watercolor artwork in her studio.

Some of the most prominently featured work on display is of bright flowers. “I like to sit out in the garden painting,” said Marni. “Just being outside—I don’t know—you paint differently. Something about knowing the light's going to change so you better get it down fast. And then the paint also dries faster. I just feels different painting outside.” 

Other works include scenes from her travels with her husband and images of children from her mission work in Haiti. “I started going to Haiti about six years ago and now I go about three times a year,” said Marni. "In March 2010, after the quake, we went to fix up the Village of Hope school. We went to erase all the boards that had January 12th (the date of the quake) work all over them. We needed to erase that—we patched up cracks and painted them over so the kids wouldn’t see it. We wanted them to go back to a happy place.”

But the devastation of the earthquake never plays out in Marni’s paintings from her time spent in Haiti. “I just don’t paint negative,” said Marni. “I just like to paint the happy, joyful things. When I go to visit Village of Hope School most of what I see is happy. These kids at the school are amazing. Their getting fed twice a day, they have hope. They’re getting a good education. That’s what I focus on. I don’t, as you can see, paint misery or pain. I don’t think I could do it. How do you do that with bright colors? I have to do bright colors.”

Marni’s brightly colored paintings will be a part of the ValeArts Fine Art Show “Shared Passion, Different Strokes” in Reston, September 30-October 2. In November she’ll be showcased in Florida in the Food for the Poor’s “Hart: Art Embracing Hope” exhibit.