While preparing for my day with Heather this week, I found myself struggling to come up with an idea when I reminded myself that I just had a book of art ideas published. A year ago, we tried the “Flower Painting” project on page 133 in Fridays with Heather: 55 Art Projects for Dementia Care. At the time Heather was fascinated by the process so I thought it might be fun to to repeat the project.
Last week, I had an ‘aha’ moment when I realized that offering Heather background paper half the usual size could make a big difference as a full piece of paper seemed daunting to her. While gathering materials for the “Flower Painting” art, I chose a paintbrush similar in size to one used for house painting. I hoped that this would make the background painting easier and more satisfying. My intuition was right! Heather readily covered most of the canvas in a bright green colour.
After the green background paint dried, I showed Heather how to paint the knotted end of the plastic bag and then press it onto the green background. Next, I poured a bit of yellow paint onto a plate, gave Heather a cotton swab, and demonstrated how to dip it into the yellow paint before dabbing it in the center of a flower. The result, as you can see, is a beautiful piece of art.”
