Jesse is still going strong with his detailed paintings and drawing. In the beginning he came to the lounge and needed lots of encouragement. Now he works for hours in his room with his paintings sprawled all over the bed. He has been doing art for less than a year and this is the happiest that I have seen him. One of his paintings is of his dad, who he thinks about alot.

Cecil was relaxing in the back lounge when I walked in. He asked me if there was anything we could do that was not art. “I’m not creative,” he said. I told him that we could just sit and talk. He told me about his friend who was coming the next day from out of town. He was describing her. I retrieved a piece of paper and began writing some of the phrases down that he was saying. We ended up with a poem. “I have an idea,” I said. “You could put it on a card and then make a design on the front, and give it to your friend.” He loved the idea. He spent two hours making the card and couldn’t wait to present it to his friend. “It started being fun,” he said. “It started making me feel good. Doing the art helped me get feelings out and express things I couldn’t say.” His friend was was very surprised.

There was no one in the back lounge where all the creativity happens. I discovered a bouquet of flowers at the nurses station and felt compelled to get out the paints and paint the beautiful arrangement. Residents were being drawn into the room with no words on my part. They were watching me. Two of them wanted to paint flowers too. Some just wanted to watch. I turned on soft music and the only other sound was paint brushes brushing lightly on the canvas. It was a relaxing and healing time together.

Here’s a picture of Mike, one of our CNAs, who utilizes one of his breaks to strum a ukelele for our residents. It is nothing planned. It just happens. A few notes turn into a song. More songs happen and then it’s a party as more people gather around.

Robbie, one of our nursing center residents and I had an urge one night to do something that would make a difference…a big difference. Wall paper was being stripped in our lounge to make ready for a bulletin board. The white backing had not been scraped off yet. Robbie started with purple and stroked all over the wall. I added some florescent orange. We had no plan. Over the next couple of days, residents added shapes and colors…even some of Robbie’s little kid cousins spread the paint on. I noticed how there is no hesitation or desire for perfection. Maybe it is because we know it is temporary and it doesn’t matter if it turns out or not. Either way, it will be scraped off so we can have a bulletin board. We haven’t decided if we like it or not, but it sure has been fun!

Jerry’s wheelchair serves many purposes. He paints or draws every day. No matter where he is. I was following him down the hall yesterday and saw this sight…art supplies sticking out of a makeshift backpack. He paints in the dining room while waiting for lunch. He paints in his room. He paints in the back lounge. He cannot express himself in words many times that can be understood. We all know him through his art. He has alot to say.

Bob is 86 and lives alone. He has set up a mini-studio with thousands of old records and tapes. He studies the origins of the songs and the composers. I asked him to come into an Alzheimer’s unit where I was volunteering and share his music. The first time, he tried to make it like a polished performance. The next time he sat down with everyone and just played music and they all enjoyed it together….no performance…just enjoyment. He became a regular, and got many requests for certain songs from different eras. He spends hours at home putting songs together that people are asking for. It has been 2 years of fun for everyone and continues on, now visiting 3 nursing homes. “I think I have as much fun or more fun than they do.” He smiles. He wishes he could do more but he can’t get around like he used to do.

Bingo is a game with squares and numbers. Markers are usually round and flat. Is there a creative side to Bingo? I walked through the Bingo area today and saw these Bingo cards. Someone ran out of markers and decided to be innovative with something more fun and more colorful. Art is overflowing into all areas of our nursing center.

David, one of our residents, thinks in great detail, but paints very loose and free and with emotion. He is constantly asking to see a picture of a particular kind of butterfly, or flower, or bird. I have been taking my laptop in so I can be ready with a ton of pictures available on the internet. After he gets a good look, he paints his abstract version of how he sees it.
Today he told me he wanted to draw a child’s face. He had just spent some time with a little red-headed boy who had come to visit. He was so excited. He said that he had the perfect face to draw. The little boy had left and he needed to remember what he looked like. I just happened to have this little guy’s picture on facebook. We sat down side by side in front of the computer. Each of us drew a rendition of the cute little face.