Posts Tagged ‘Creativity in Nursing Homes’

Doris is in the habit of quietly sitting in front of an empty page of watercolor paper for up to an hour before she picks up the brush. I am aware that the creative juices are being stirred. Without fanfare, she starts painting and a landscape emerges in a very short time. Each landscape is a different color hue. “This is a fallen tree at dusk” she said. I held it up in front of her and asked if she was happy with it. She nodded her head and said that the trunk needed to be wider. She fell asleep before she could finish. The picture is still very charming. The painting pictured below is a tree that she painted very quickly all in blue.

I go frequently to a facility that has a good mixture of men and women. I find it interesting that the ones who clamor to paint are men. We decided to call in Men’s Club. They gather and paint…and even allow the women to come and watch. As they paint together, they socially bond as they come alive to the arts. Notice that one gentleman is painting a portrait of the other.

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.