Finding Joy with Dementia: Art

We tend to assume the changes to the brain that occur with any form of dementia are all negative. Most are. They inhibit quality of life, increase anxiety, and diminish the patient’s ability to function in a progressing manner.

But there are sometimes surprises, and not all of them are bad.

My wife was an artistic person her whole life. She minored in music at college, sang in the church choir, and taught web and graphic design. But she’d really only dabbled in the visual arts, thinking her own abilities paled next to those of her mother.

But something shifted in her brain as her dementia ran its course.

She had already been knitting and began making hats. These became a bit more difficult over time as knitting, while it can often be done almost unconsciously, involves counting, and she would lose track of the number of stitches.

She turned then to coloring, filling adult coloring books with bright and vibrant colors. These soon gave way to her own designs. Her limited short-term memory prevented her from planning a piece as another artist might, so she built them piecemeal, with small elements joined by interlocking sets of squiggly lines that might have seemed incoherent on their own, but together became something of beauty.

In one piece, which she called The Great Alaskan Outdoors, (I lived in Alaska for a couple of years as a child), she included a moose, along with random sets of eyes, and creatures that look slightly monstrous.

Eventually, her skills began to devolve. There was less color, and more repeated elements, a sun in the corner, trees that looked foreboding.

Then, these gave way to smaller pieces. She began making bookmarks, some with similar elements, and others, including ants and other small creatures, and still others with simple or intricate designs. In several, she cut the bookmark into her own shape, there being no need for rectangular convention in her mind.

Making art gave Beckie purpose and meaning and helped her spread joy. I would take her out to lunch and she would create a bookmark while we waited for our food, then walk up to the (often surprised) cashier and present it as a present. From what I heard, at least one adorned the breakroom wall at the old Hoagie’s sandwich shop.

Gradually, the bookmarks became less vibrant. There was more white space, fewer elements, and after a disastrous vacation in 2018, the artwork nearly ceased altogether.

It was soon after that when she began attending Valley Adult Day Services. There, art is one of several supported activities and Beckie was able to continue, along with playing piano, singing, and dancing. Although she’d always been one to find joy wherever she could, VADS was a place that aided in that effort as long as she attended.

If you’d like to see some of Beckie’s artwork and a longer piece tracking how it progressed as the changes in her brain occurred, you can find my Art and Alzheimer’s piece on the Good Men Project blog site.

Valley Adult Day Services provides respite care for adults dealing with dementia and other medical conditions. For more information, contact them at 559-7839815, or admin@portervilleadultdayservices. org.