Posts Tagged ‘art in nursing homes’

We were gathered around a table painting with watercolors in an Alzheimer’s unit. George came into the activity room and walked around the table and out again. This happens over and over. I asked him if I could paint a watercolor portrait of him. “Would you be willing to sit down in this chair and face me, so I can see your face?” He sat right down and looked straight at me for 30 minutes as we sat. He looked straight at me, as I would catch his eye and talk to him about his features as I drew. This gentleman, who is not able to make himself understood, looked at the final results. “I look mean,” he said. I used my brush to turn the corners of his mouth up just a little bit. He smiled approval.

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.

Doris does not talk very much. She smiles a lot, especially when she is in an atmosphere where people are creating. She had painted some beautiful landscapes in her past. Curious to see if her talent was retrievable, I brought her into the activity room three different times when we painted. She sat for almost an hour each time without putting a stroke on the paper I had placed in front of her. She sat there and smiled and observed. I did not say anything to her. She didn’t say anything to me. The third time she was in our art group, she quietly picked up a paintbrush and painted a beautiful landscape. It was not labored over. She wasn’t coaxed or coached. It emerged.

I finally saw what was within Doris. It was more than words. Is it not true that a picture is worth a thousand words?