May 22--As Sara Amorose uses her pastels, the woman lying in the hospital bed comes to life on paper.
As Christine Scarpo's portrait begins to take shape, there's no evidence of the two strokes that have afflicted the 71-year-old Hempfield resident since December.
There's no indication on paper of the difficulty she's had with her left side, particularly the limited movement in her left arm.
Rather, Scarpo's face becomes the picture of health.
"Good job," Scarpo says as Amorose shows her the finished project. "But I got more gray hair than that."
Amorose, 29, of Latrobe, began using her artistic skills last month by drawing portraits of patients recovering from neurological conditions in the Neuroscience Center at Excela Latrobe Hospital.
Her love of art and the hospital's desire for a portraiture program converged into the "Picture Me Healthy" volunteer program at the hospital.
Amorose, a stay-at-home mother of two young children, decided recently she needed some time outside the house.
"I just wanted to go out and be an adult a little bit," she said.
She decided to volunteer at Excela Latrobe Hospital and approached Polly Benning, coordinator of volunteer services, about teaching needlework or crochet to patients.
Amorose, a Greater Latrobe Senior High School graduate, earned her fine arts degree in weaving and fibers from Edinboro University in 2003. She had worked summers at Idlewild Park and SoakZone sketching portraits of park visitors.
Hospital officials already had been thinking of ways to incorporate art into the Neuroscience Center.
And when they heard Amorose had experience in portraiture, "Picture Me Healthy" was born.
"Picture Me Healthy is a way to see yourself as you want to be, so that's also something you can be working toward," said Robin Jennings, spokeswoman for Excela Health.
Jennings said the portrait program works well in the Neuroscience Center, where the recovery time for patients can be lengthy.
"This provides that extra sense that life's going to continue beyond whatever time you're going to spend here recuperating," Jennings said.
Lisa Pierce of Ligonier Township had spent four months hospitalized after her stroke in December.
The stroke has caused her to temporarily lose coordination in her right leg, mobility in her right shoulder and strength in her right hand.
At the hospital, Amorose drew Pierce's portrait, complete with the platinum blond hair she planned to restore after a trip to the salon.
Pierce, who has begun working from home again in her job as a consultant for Latrobe Specialty Steel, has placed the framed portrait in her home office.
"It enabled me to see what it was going to be like as I progressed from hospitalization and institutionalization," Pierce said. "I had been in the hospital for four months, so that portrait, which came as I was just about to be released from Latrobe Hospital, helped me to see what it was going to be like for me as I progressed to the more positive stages of my illness."
Amorose said she has been inspired by the attitudes of the patients, who put on a smile even though some have been hospitalized for weeks and months.
She hopes she can aid their recovery in some way.
"It makes me really happy and excited to do something (where) I can use my talents and can help people at the same time," Amorose said.
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