Rick Olson says he’s glad to see his mother enjoying a new passion.
Marlys Olson, 74, has been a resident at the Good Samaritan Society nursing home for the last two and a half years. Her son Rick said that when she entered the nursing home, she had little interest in participating in activities.
But that changed this winter when she was introduced to water color painting.
“It makes your days more fulfilling — I don’t have that feeling of uselessness,” Marlys said. “It keeps you busy and your mind occupied.”
“Most people think that when you enter a nursing home you are a half step from the grave,” Rick said. “Painting has improved her outlook on life. I think it’s incredible.”
Marlys Olson once was kept busy as co-owner of The Spot Firehouse Restaurant and Lounge in International Falls. But she found herself with more time on her hands after coming to the Good Samaritan.
After several painting lessons from a volunteer at the nursing home, Olson was hooked.
She’d been interested in other crafts and creative outlets such as rug hooking, but had never painted.
“I had never tried anything like this before,” Olson said. “But I said I’d try anything once.”
She often shares her artwork. Olson said that her family and friends have given her photos of items ranging from a cactus to a cabin and she’s able to create paintings from the images.
“People bring in old calendars or cards or anything with a picture to get me going,” she said. “I have to have something to look at to get started.”
Olson’s room at the care center is adorned with many of her creations.
Covering her walls are paintings of orange tiger lilies, red poppies, purple iris and a rainbow of pansies. She also has hanging paintings of a Pacific Northwest lighthouse and an autumnal rural churchyard.
Olson prefers painting nature scenes, especially flowers. She said she is partial to natural colors such as greens, browns and yellows.
She has given more than 20 of her pieces as gifts to family, friends and others at the Good Samaritan home. It takes her a couple of days to finish each piece.
One of her works, a scene of poppies, was a door prize at a recent Good Samaritan volunteer luncheon.
She keeps some of her first works tucked away. She learned to water color by painting in lines that were already drawn on paper. Now, she is free-hand sketching her own ideas and painting much more elaborate pieces.
“Once you start doing your own [drawings], this stuff goes by the way side,” she said of her beginning projects.
Olson has gained new friends and fans from her hobby.
“Everyone here is very supportive,” she said. “People stop by to see what I’m doing next.”
One of the nurses at the Good Samaritan Society even made her a bag for her supplies that says “Creations by Marlys” on the side.
The watercolor lessons not only taught her a creative skill, but gave Olson a fresh perspective and sense of purpose, she said.
