03:24 PM PST on Tuesday, December 14, 2004

By SAINT BRYAN / Evening Magazine

Art has a way of touching the souls of just about every human being on Earth. But is its power great enough to heal? By putting a paintbrush to canvas, a nurse at a Seattle homeless clinic has found a remarkable way to help the people who need help most.

Nurse Mary Larson spends 10 hours a day treating the poor - and often homeless -patients who come to the Pioneer Square Clinic.

"Every single day something new and interesting comes through the doors at Pioneer Square Clinic," she said.

Mary is always busy, but never too busy for her patients, who open up to her and make social connections at the clinic.

In her own way, Mary takes even her homeless friends home.

She paints vibrant and cheery portraits of her patients, brushed onto canvas with both bold colors and unmistakable admiration.

In just two years, Mary has painted dozens of brightly colored portraits - paintings a local coffee shop offered to sell for hundreds of dollars apiece.

But all those smiling faces inspired Mary to set a different kind of price.

"Instead of tagging them with a dollar amount, I could put a price tag on them like '650 pairs of socks,'" she said.

The idea has really taken off.

A portrait of Horace sold for 400 pairs of socks, Eduardo for 300 meal tickets, Garry for 100 pairs of new gloves.

Garry is one of Mary's favorite patients and one of her toughest art critics.

Tom proudly displays his portrait and his newly acquired self-esteem.

But Mary prefers to have her art judged by what it brings into a storage loft above the clinic.

"We've got hundreds of pairs of brand-new underwear. Everything from T-shirts to coffee mugs, we got sweatpants, tubes of toothpaste," said Mary. "Our painting of Garry who used to work in the circus was sold for all of these gloves. They're just wonderful."

These are supplies that go to the people who need them most, but helping even those who buy the paintings.

"I think it's very meaningful for the people who get the paintings. I think everybody feels good about lending a hand and helping those in need, but sometimes we don't know how to do that," said clinic physician, Dr. Leslie Grefenson.

Mary's art just may have a healing role.

Tom used to live in a bread van, but after his painting sold for hundreds of meal tickets, he found an apartment - and more self-esteem.

In just two years, Mary has painted dozens of brightly colored portraits.

"My hair is a little bit of a mess, but otherwise she did a really good portrait of me and I really like it," said Tom.

"If you have a sense of pride, self-esteem and you feel valued, you take better care of yourself," said Grefenson.

So, while they may just look like a bunch of colorful pictures to some folks, to the clinic patients, Mary Larson's art is more like good medicine.

Mary has received more than 80 requests for paintings from around the country and the clinic has already received supplies from Missouri, Michigan and Oklahoma.