By Kelly A. Shue
THE ERICKSON TRIBUNE

“It’s a great blessing to me to be able to help those less fortunate,” says Anne Marean, who for the last four years has spent each Tuesday drawing for the patients and families at Inova Fairfax hospital.

Setting up her cart with an easel, colored pencils, and drawing paper, Marean positions herself outside the infusion lab on the hospital’s cancer floor. “The people here are very sick,” Marean says. “It’s absolutely rewarding to help put their minds on something else. I make a point to talk to everyone who goes by while I’m working.”

Labor of love
For five hours every Tuesday, Marean works on her colored pencil drawings. “I really try to keep the themes upbeat and timely,” she says. Recently, she displayed some of her works at the Greenspring art show including a woman with a pink parasol; an underwater scene; two cards, a king and queen of hearts flirting; and two turkeys dressed as pilgrims.

Currently, on the hospital’s ninth floor where she works, Marean has six of her pieces hanging on the walls. “I alternate them occasionally to reflect the different holidays or times of year,” she says.

Marean also donated one of her pieces to the hospital in memory of her  husband. “That one stays there permanently, but what I do with the rest of them is up to me.”

More than art
In addition to working on her drawings, which she typically completes in three weeks, Marean spends her time speaking with patients, families, and staff members.

As family members get used to seeing Marean on a weekly basis, many come to see her as a friend. “I’ve had family members ask me to visit someone in their room, but I do that by patient invitation only. I want to make sure they are up for a visit. If they are, then I gladly go in and spend time with them,” she says.