Watercolor of Oranges
Painted by an Artist with Dementia
Part of my job as art consultant for the Alzheimer's Association Memories in the Making program is to go around to the care communities in Colorado Springs and visit with the artists. The purpose of the program is to help people with dementia continue to communicate through art even if it has become harder to verbally get their message across.
Here are two of the residents that were painting on my last visit. The woman on the right painted the wonderful oranges shown above and you can see that she had two real oranges for a model. She had never painted before she started this program and was only recently diagnosed with dementia - the joy she gets from her art is evident when you talk to her.
The woman on the left always paints flowers no matter what is put in front of her for inspiration. You can see one of her paintings in front of the window - always bright, cheerful colors and a smile on her face. She usually completes two or three each session. It is always upliftingfor me to visit with the artists on my visits - a wonderful program!
