A Splash of Watercolor with Workhouse Artist Marni Maree

Workhouse Arts Center artist Marni Maree has no choice but to draw and paint, and she'll tell you she can depict anything, just name it. At the moment she's doing a watercolor piece of a crowd surrounding a balloon vendor at a park, and it will grace the cover of next year's official Fairfax County Visitors Guide. 

"I just find what I want to paint and it's usually something pretty, something happy," said Maree to Patch. "You won't see any dark paintings. I won't go there."

But while her art is grounded in happiness (paintings of beautiful flowers and children), Murray often puts herself into dark situations. She's taken over 20 trips to Haiti over the past eight years as an art teacher and volunteer at the Village of Hope School and clinic. Plans for a July trip are in the works, and while there she'll visit her Haitian God daughter Colleen. 

"I am so blessed with so much. I just want to share it," said Maree. "And as soon as they found that I was an artist they found work for me to do."

Maree, a Pennsylvania native, started drawing as a child, and graduated from the Moore College of Art and Design.     

"I drew on everything when I was a kid," she said. "My grandfather would bring back the stationary from his cement pipe company and I would draw all over it."

Maree married her husband, Ron, soon after graduation and the couple found work and moved to Northern Virginia. The couple had three children and settled in Springfield, where Maree worked as a graphics designer for the Fairfax County Public School system and freelance layout designer and illustrator. 

Maree had taken a break from art and focused on raising her children when the itch to create became too much. She introduced herself to watercolor and started painting the children of friends. Soon after, she entered into shows with the Springfield Art Guild, joined the Loft Gallery in Occoquan and became a member of the Potomac Ballywater Colorists. 

"There are a lot of surprises in watercolor," said Maree, "the way it blends, and even in the mistakes, which can end up being your favorite part of the painting."

Maree joined the Workhouse when it opened in 2008, and routinely spends 25 hours a week in her studio. "All of the kids were gone and it was time," she said. "I do like when visitors come in and they think they're bothering us. But if I didn't want to be bothered, then I would stay at home."

Maree also teaches privately, teaches three painting classes at the Workhouse and at workshops at area retirement communities.   

You can find more of Marni Maree's work in Building 5 of the Workhouse Arts Center. She will be the featured artist in her building in May.