Art is a wonderful thing - Even as a spectator!

Sometimes when I go to an art session I draw the people I work with.

When Alzheimers or mixed dementia is well settled into the person that lives with it they almost become a spectator in life.

When I see this I talk to them and draw…

Other residents watch the process as they wander and walk around.

Here is an example of some of my work. These 20 minute drawings are on A4 cartridge paper and coloured loosely with watercolour.

You can see more portraits here on my Facebook page.

If anyone has any suggestions about what drawing pages you would like me to make next please get i touch or leave a comment below.

Art With The Elderly is based in and around Buckinghamshire providing art sessions for elderly people in residential homes and day centres.

FREE COLOURING SHEETS for the elderly and those with dementia! CATS!

These colouring sheets are free for you to use for your residents in care homes or loved ones with alzheimers or dementia. 

If possible please could you either share this blog, comment below or subscribe. It would be amazing to know where in the world my blog is read. At the moment people in the USA are the biggest readers of Art with the Elderly, closely followed but the UK and Norway!

Thank you for visiting. Please check back for more FREE colouring sheets for adults.

FREE Colouring Print out -Activities for the Elderly & Dementia

Watch this space…in the next few days I will posting FREE hand drawn colouring sheets to use in your residential home or workshops with the elderly and those with dementia. Please comment if you would be interested in receiving some for free...

You can now find these print out sheets by clicking HERE 

Hope you enjoy them! There will be more added on a regular basis.

Spread the word!

ART - An introduction to working with new people with Dementia

I have recently started a placement at a residential home in Tring.
When starting to work with new people it takes time to became familiar with them. Even though, because of dementia, they may not necessarily remember you from the previous time you met it is your own familiarity with them that makes the art session work so well. This was the first time I had spent time with this lady.

The portrait above I drew while we talked and became acquainted, this drawing took around 30 minutes, by the time I had finished she was open to painting and made the art work below. She painted for around 15 minutes.

I look forward to my next visit...

ART WITH THE ELDERLY

ART can be used to help people with dementia.

As an artist and art practitioner I find that art is a way of helping people with dementia tap into their subconscious and improve memory recall.
Often while painting people will remember something they did when they were younger that they couldn't recall before and for that moment the memory exists and becomes part of the creative process. My main objectives within art sessions are to stimulate conversation, improve fine motor skills and lift the spirits of the people that attend.

My local Alzheimers Society have recently started a new Dementia Cafe and I am very happy to run a regular art session for them which is very rewarding.

I began running art sessions in 2008 when a member of my family moved into a residential home. I now work freelance with Sunrise Senior Living, Care UK and other independant residential homes providing regular art sessions and one off cover sessions.

Lynne D Jones-Field  

Ba (hons) MA

WWW.ARTWITHTHEELDERLY.COM

NEWS FLASH!

We are happy to announce that Lynne will be working with The Alzheimers Society in their new Dementia Cafe in Chesham. The cafe will be situated in the Town Hall at Chesham on the last Thursday of every month.
The cafe starts on Thursday 31st May 2012 and runs from 11.00 - 1pm. It will have a creative space which will be run by Lynne and last approx one hour. We will be concentrating on the theme of tea, coffee and  biscuits and we may end up using some of the art work for the dementia cafe logo! This is very exciting!
Here are some tea cup paintings that were created in Catherine Court residential home in High Wycombe.

Practitioner says art helps those with dementia

Posted by Jo-Anne Rowney on Mar 16, 12 12:00 PM in People

ART can be used to help people with dementia and Alzheimer's, an artist working with a residential home in Beaconsfield has said.

The art practitioner says art is a way of helping people with dementia tap into their subconscious.
She said: "You can't be too structured, especially with dementia patients, which is why art works so well.
"Often they'll remember something they did when they were young that they couldn't recall before."
She added: "One man was very anxious, but once he started copying some Van Gogh he relaxed.
"For borderline dementia patients there's this total immersion. It's like a coffee break - it's an escape where people are more than their condition."
Lynne Jones began running art classes with Sunrise in 2008 when her mother-in-law moved into the home and is hoping to offer more people a chance to paint and draw.
Since then the class has expanded to Denham White Plains and Catherine Court in High Wycombe and Lynne is working with the Alzheimer's Society to open an art cafe in Chesham next month.
Doreen Wilkins, 71, has been coming to the classes for three years. She said: "It's very relaxing, and there's quite a camaraderie with the other people.
"It gets me out of bed and it's calming because I just have to think about what to paint."
Daphne Hansen, 89, who moved into Sunrise six months ago, said: "Being in a wheelchair I can't always do the activities at the home, so the art class is a great way of escaping from everything and just painting."