Paper Weaving

Following the success of S~’s free-form quilting and the positive feedback from her family, I was excited about a new project based on a rudimentary paper weaving. This particular morning however, S~ didn’t get out of bed till late, and when she finally did arrive, she went back to sleep again. (If this were middle school that might be a problem, but at her age, S~ is entitled to her rest.) It also gave me a chance to work exclusively with J~.

I started out by showing him samples I had made several months ago. (Click on images to enlarge):

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aging, Alzheimer's, arts and healing, creative play, dementia, eldercare, ElderSparks, expressive arts, paper weaving

February 1, 2012

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An ElderSparks Gallery

New work by some of our ElderSparks clients (click on images to enlarge):

This was a collaboration between van Gogh and J~, a stroke-impaired former food journalist. Working outward from the center portion of Bedroom at Arles, and without seeing the rest of the composition, J~ used oil pastels to complete the painting. A family caregiver who was joining us for the first time assisted. The end result is a hybrid piece that takes off in a new direction and works beautifully on its own. I was so impressed with it, I made a copy for myself.

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aging, Alzheimer's, arts and healing, creative play, dementia, eldercare, ElderSparks, expressive arts, fiber art, free-form quilts, Kandinsky, Matisse, quilt making, quilts, Rayna Gillman, van Gogh

January 19, 2012

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“What’s the Point?”

I recently started working with a number of private clients. One is a woman in her nineties, a former art teacher diagnosed with early-stage Alzheimer’s and no longer in touch with her artist self. L~ and I work at her kitchen table, joined by A~, a young woman from Ghana who serves as her full-time aide. A~ has plans to become a radiologist, but it wouldn’t surprise me if she ends up going to art school — that’s how enthralled she is about being introduced to the world of art.

At each of our first few sessions, I began with a simple, collaborative, warm-up exercise that requires neither talent nor expertise and is easy for a caregiver to do with a client or loved one. I like the nonverbal nature of the interaction, and the fact that it involves a certain degree of concentration, responsiveness, and connection. Some exercises are very quiet and focused while others are high energy and fun; quite often, a wonderful, serendipitous surprise awaits at the end.

In this first variation, each of us started drawing with pastels and/or markers on a sheet of paper. When 45 seconds were up, we passed our sheet to the person on our left, who continued drawing on this new page for a few seconds more. We went around the table like this for three rounds, interrupted only by L~ exclaiming, “What’s the point?” or “I don’t get it,” and me urging patience. Midway through however, I could see her old artist self peeking out: it was in the way she paused to consider the drawing, or held her pen above the page, before making her next move. The shift was subtle but striking nevertheless.

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aging, Alzheimer's, arts and healing, collaborative art, collaborative art making, creative play, dementia, eldercare, ElderSparks, expressive arts, Kandinsky, Matisse, Meet Me at MOMA, van Gogh

January 8, 2012

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Best Wishes

Taking a cue from the holiday season, we brought a golden wish holder to two eldercare facilities this week and last. (Some drew parallels to the Wailing Wall in Jerusalem; others saw two inverted tomato cages attached to one another.)  Markers and metallic card stock and paper strips were provided for decoration, along with suggestions for what to write on them: a caring thought or wish directed to someone else, a gift to either give or receive, one’s name or that of a loved one, or simply something decorative. The options offered different entry points to accommodate residents whose cognitive abilities vary widely. Here is a sampling of their responses, and those of staff and visiting family members:

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aging, Alzheimer's, arts and healing, creative play, dementia, eldercare, ElderSparks, expressive arts, holiday gift-giving, season's greetings

December 22, 2011

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Jazz in the Afternoon

The ElderSparks Jazz Ensemble held its first rehearsal this week. I was pretty pleased with the results, considering that our raw talent consisted of: yours truly, known for having zero musical ability; my colleague Cynthia who is just being humble when she describes herself in similar terms; J~, a stroke patient who is speech impaired, physically disabled, and still in recovery — like so many of us — from a grade school music teacher who said he couldn’t sing; S~, also wheelchair-bound, with serious hearing loss; and L~, a newcomer with the sweetest smile, a twinkle in her eye, and a deeply resonant voice that belies her frail appearance. Our instruments included bells, a flute, xylophone, tambourine, crystal bowl, seed rattle, and portable, electronic keyboard whose programmed jazz tempo was our saving grace.

After singing Happy Birthday to S~ (only to find out she was three weeks early on the date), we held hands in a circle and rang a bell in remembrance of E~, an ElderSparks regular who died last month. Despite the physical pain she was often in, she brought a loving energy to our group: hearts were her favorite graphic.

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aging, Alzheimer's, arts and healing, creative play, dementia, eldercare, ElderSparks, expressive arts, music improv

December 10, 2011

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Elder Noodles

In October, we started a monthly Noodle Talk group at an assisted-living facility here in central New Jersey. Noodle Talk is a lightly structured discussion based on questions that explore the human condition as a rich mosaic of personal story. We developed it years ago and think it’s arguably the “best excuse to sit around and schmooze since grunting gave way to grammar.” That’s one of the reasons we were excited about bringing it to a group of seniors.

Some customers tell us that when first introducing Noodle Talk, they go through the questions beforehand to weed out the “more difficult ones.” I never do that, but as the first few questions were picked, I began to wonder if I had made a mistake: each was the serious kind that might easily send newcomers running. And if that wasn’t bad enough, an overly zealous prosecutor might interpret some as prima facie evidence of elder abuse (e.g., What feeling or thought would you like to accompany your final breath?).

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aging, Alzheimer's, arts and healing, creative play, dementia, discussion groups for seniors, eldercare, ElderSparks, expressive arts, Noodle Talk

December 2, 2011

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More Fall Pets

Last Saturday’s My Pet Leaf workshop in northern New Jersey produced this menagerie (click on images to enlarge):

Corn Bird

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Navel-Gazing Seed Snail

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Curly Bark Leaf Eater

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Striped Gilled Pineback

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aging, Alzheimer's, arts and healing, corn husk, creative play, dementia, eldercare, ElderSparks, expressive arts, leaf collecting, peeling bark, pet leaf, pet rock, seed pods

November 28, 2011

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My Pet Leaf

Several weeks ago, I came across a fallen leaf in my driveway whose shriveled shape reminded me of either a small animal or very large bug. All it needed was some stick-on eyes to imbue it with some personality. When I showed my pet leaf to a group of women with dementia and Alzheimer’s, we decided it was definitely a male whose diet consisted mainly of M&M’s.

(Click on all images to enlarge.)

Harold

Harold was the inspiration for an extended ElderSparks session celebrating fall and its imaginary creatures. In preparation, I had gathered a large collection of leaves in various shapes and sizes, fluffy seed plumes, delicate thorny spines, scary-looking fruit heads, cornhusks, pods, and even empty wasp nests. The full assortment was displayed on tables that greeted the participants upon arrival.

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aging, Alzheimer's, arts and healing, creative play, dementia, eldercare, ElderSparks, expressive arts, hedge-apple, leaf collecting, pet leaf, pet rock, seed plumes, seed pods

November 10, 2011

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Halloween Album

ElderSparks held two different mask-making workshops the week before Halloween. Paper plates, colored markers and soft pastels, pipe cleaners, Groucho glasses, and photographic prints served as entry points into the holiday spirit.

(Click on image to enlarge)

A number of participants didn’t know how to begin and were in need of hands-on assistance. I was struck by how much they appreciated the help, the thrill they got out of having someone like myself — a true artiste as far as they were concerned — consulting with them and suggesting designs for their personal mask. No doubt it made them feel special.

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aging, Alzheimer's, arts and healing, creative play, dementia, eldercare, ElderSparks, expressive arts, Halloween, Halloween masks, mask-making, masks

November 7, 2011

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Going Around in Circles

I kept thinking of the old American spiritual, We Shall Not Be Moved, after our last ElderSparks session. That’s how the participants responded to 40 minutes of pushing, prodding, coaxing, and enticing — all in a failing effort to have them illustrate an Escher-like poem I had written especially for class. Entitled Circular Reasoning, it went like this:

One night, as I lay down in bed,

Tired as a lump of lead,

I found myself in darkest black,

A maze without an exit track.

Scared, I searched between the lines,

Connected dots that gave no signs.

But all I did was run around

In circles on the ground.

Suddenly a door before me

Opened when I turned the key.

Inside, a pretty stairway led

To me, all comfortable asleep in bed.

I read the poem several times, as they followed along in printed booklets that included space for drawings. (Click on images to enlarge.)

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aging, Alzheimer's, arts and healing, creative play, dementia, eldercare, ElderSparks, expressive arts

October 16, 2011

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