Alzheimer's Art: Winter Scene

This week my Alzheimer's art group collaged winter scenes.

It is a stretch, to move them through three different concepts  - black trees, white snow, and collage - in one hour.

 But the hard work paid off. Each person found something that worked for them and pursued it. 

They finished happy, some so much so they stayed an extra 20 minutes, working or just talking about their art.



I always line the finished pieces up, and point out how good they look together. Then I  remind them that each piece is different, because each person is different.

One woman never says a word. But as she left, she turned to me and held out a last deer.

 "Would you please put this in the corner?" She gestured to a painting. I glued the deer down. "Thank you," she beamed.

With love

Some out-of-favor polka dots, skimmed with crimson and gold. Then a black-and-white text paper, veiled with crimson. Finally, lots of related circles from all these and more, using a Papertrey die so  hoop and circles match.  Little messages from tiny Papertrey stamps. Nice break on a quiet afternoon.

Last week, we made Valentines in Assisted Living. Something about all that pink brings out the best in everyone.

 Residents made cards. Staff joined in.  

"This should go on all day," declared the director.

 Cards were made for spouses, children, grandchildren. I talked one woman into making cards for her granddaughters in college. High point of my day.

The week before, I led Heart-Felt Collage at the Arlington Center for the Arts. 

So much loving creativity.

 And lots of paint.

Big hearts, creative people.  A great afternoon.

First snow and tactile art

Home-made clay, sticks and old CDs = snowmen this week with my Alzheimer's art group. "They are all wonderful. And all different." Just like the folks who made them.,

Rocking the Fall

 

This October, I lead 4-week class in monoprinting at the Arlington Center for the Arts.

Gelatin plates, Gelli plates, and more. As I prepare, my studio fills with prints. 

 

Grids, stencils, leaves, paint, everywhere.

 Alexandra Sheldon's excellent collage classes taught me that, when students start with a good palette, the likelihood of success skyrockets. Good color sings. So I will provide coordinated colors to get us started, and provide pointers about  brands and buying.

 Also, a workshop this summer at the incredible Zia May Print Studio

taught me the value of that phrase "Supplies Included."

Don't know about you, but I was nervous enough just showing up. Everyone was helped by the right supplies waiting, and we learned more because we used the same tools. So I'll provide small Gelli plates, paints, stencils,  and tools. Students can get right to work.

Want to play with paint, line, shape? Curious about Gelli plates but don't know whether to buy one? Join me October 1, in  paint clothes and comfy shoes. We'll rock the fall with stencils, color and paint. Four fabulous weeks.

Art with the Elderly

"The house I grew up in" -- Joanne

The folks in my classes wrestle with more than age.  They face the blank page, not only in public and perhaps for the first time, but with dimmed eye sight, arthritic hands, and failing memory.

Through the magic of the internet, I discovered Jane Filer.  Filer's  combination of abstraction and whimsy inspired  my students like nothing I'd seen before. We used a detail from Filer's "Hillandale Road."

Even the simplest version catches the geometry and the rhythm of the trees.

geometry of landscape

This resident layered the watercolors for deeper hues, and added trees at the bottom.  

Vineyard view

This resident, an artist in her day,  had avoided my class, wrestling with doubt and self-consciousness. But Filer's artwork pulled her in. I love the pink she used for the fields.

Pink Hills

A woman who usually paints traditional decorative flowers worked on this image for three classes. "I've never done anything like this." Wonderful.

New Horizons, after Jane Filer "Hillandale Road"

  

Thank you, Jane Filer, for the inspiration. Find Filer's work, including "Hillandale Road," here. She is a joyous, sharing artist. Watch her at work here and here.

Make a Bird of Poetry

Found poems and art started our class last night at Arlington Center for the Arts. That reminded me of an installation I'd read about, poetry re-imagined as a flock of birds. Tonight I tracked it down: Virginia Fitzgerald:  

You too can make a Bird of Poetry

 

The idea of words taking wing: would that work with my Elder students, I wonder? I shall sit down and try some prototypes. Just as soon as the studio is cleared of scarves, cards, and small art, all ready to launch for the holidays.

Found poetry collage

The Arlington Center for the Arts collage class started last night making cards.

Barbara: blues and yellows this term

They each got a card, a page from an old children's mystery, and 30 minutes.

We talked briefly about the steps involved: how to get past the page to the words that moved you; how to step from there to a ground that supported your text.

My class sample

What felt odd quickly morphed into delight in their talented hands.

Nancy: complex found imagery

An assignment that felt odd quickly transformed to intriguing in their capable hands.

Caroline: wolves, dense surface, imbedded questions

 Each card reflected the personality its maker.

Judy: ocean colors, vistas

 The goal: relax, work fast, leap past the tired monkey brain to joy.

Beth: rich colors, warm heart

 I think it worked.

Deborah: direct and yet unexpected

 "Is this what the Valentine's workshop will like?" 

Yes, but with lots of pink and red, hearts and flowers.

Kathy: tiny window, rich view

 These folks are a joy. They support each other. They work hard.

Appreciating the results

Wonderful, creative women.  

So much talent, such different voices.

One more week together. The term has flown by.

Free Form Collage

Experiment with shape and line

My students continue to amaze me.

Prints and bits

After six weeks, they still bring their full attention to class, diving into assignments.
We've made stamps and stencils, printed with gelli plates, abstracted from images and developed themes. I learn so much from their different approaches.

Miniatures in progress

 This year I've encouraged the students to work on multiple pieces simultaneously. This is a stretch, especially at the end of the day. But it frees you.  You no longer need to find  to find The Right Answer. Instead, many answers appear.

Lollipop Tree series inspired by vintage fabrics and 1800s textbook

Stillness and fascination with texture

Thumbnails from photos

The class is so full of ideas it makes me giddy.

 Wolf and Spirit theme

 

Experiment with lines and layers

They bring so much to the class. They encourage each other, and challenge me. Transformative Thursdays, for all of us.

Elder Art: Collage

Scraps from my studio become art supplies

I brought a pile of autumn-hued fabric scraps to my art classes this week.

Adding leaves to a painted ground

Folks were surprised  that fabric could be an art supply. They loved the colors, the textures. Several noticed the silks and the remnants of hand-dyed table cloths. This is the generation that treasured those linens. 

This student, usually hesitant, often disappointed, loved the process.

a rich scene

For the Alzheimer's patients, however, tasks remained discrete. Think about it: gluing is made up of many steps. It requires a sense of what is possible in the immediate future, and that's just what Alzheimer's robs away. 

Every student needed one-on-one attention to get anything glued to paper. Then, the collaged image didn't hold together in their eyes. "It looks like blobs. There's too much white."

 So we backed up and worked on the processes that made sense to each person.

Trimming a rough edge

Adding leaves to a painting

A bit of green linen for ground

Adding color to the background

One woman painted the tree's edges green.  I handed her a brush with orange paint on it, and she carefully over-painted all the leaves.

a second layer of color

 Then she painted the trunk orange. And smiled a huge smile.

I come home to world news and this work seems so small. But it requires time, attention, patience, creativity and quantities of love. We could all use more of that.

 "Your class is a constant in a sea of change," a director assured me. "What you do makes them happy. We see the effects for hours afterwards."