Posts Tagged ‘art in healthcare’

James usually sits quietly in a wheelchair in the lounge with us while we do creative things. He participates by watching. Though a vibrant and verbally expressive man at one time, he is now unable to talk much. Like many, he is grieving loss. His daughter died unexpectedly. The tears drop one by one.
I was starting to clean up the paint and put away the easels one evening. James was still there.
“Do you want to paint this time? No one is here and you can be on your own.” I explained to him that it didn’t have to be “something”. It could be emotions and colors. He could paint in the moment. That is what he did. He painted in the moment. He spent over an hour, painting and watching to see what the colors would do. He ended up with a nonobjective but very expressive painting.

“I’ve been waiting for you.” David said. “I have a picture in my mind and I have to paint it before I forget.”
I had brought a large piece of cardboard with acrylics. He was accustomed to a small piece of watercolor paper and watercolors. 8 1/2 x 11 was usually not big enough for him. He sat right down and painted “outer space” with a flourish. I have found that Alzheimer’s patients who enjoy painting create straight from their souls. I am careful not to give input because I don’t want to ruin the fresh expression!

I obtain large pieces of cardboard for free from Cannon Industries. They are painted white and placed on easels for those who are in Alzheimer Units to paint on. I give them big brushes and let them go with the color. Ann, one of the residents, painted with yellow and was finished. Because we had a group who was watching and commenting, together we developed it into a sailboat picture. That is what the spontaneous shapes of yellow reminded us of. It had turned into a group art project and I like the result.

One day, I was relaxing in the sunroom of a rehabilitation facility, I looked at the vibrant Fall colors outside. I decided it was time to get my watercolors out of my car and set up my art. As I began painting, many in wheelchairs came rolling in. My aim was not to have anyone watch me, but curious eyes were all around me, watching the colors flow. I soaked up the energy that was surrounding me and came up with a picture that I really like. I went back on another day and painted with the residents, one by one. It was a happy time.

David was a newspaper photographer for most of his life. He is now has dementia and is also stuck using a wheelchair in a nursing home with dementia. We were painting on large pieces of cardboard with large brushes in one of our sessions. He painted a stormy sky with blues and grays. He stated he was finished, but then took a brush, dipped it in yellow paint and stroked in a lightening bolt. The surprise was that the lightning bolt turned green as soon as it went on top of the blue. He didn’t seem to be troubled by it. He turned it into a green cactus in the storm and when it dried, he painted pink flowers on it. He titled it “A Flowering Cactus in the Storm”