The Magical World of Labyrinths

Labyrinths have been fascinating me now for several years. I can't even explain exactly why this fascination happened. Before I even went back to school I was interested in drawing them. Then I started to see where I could walk them. One of my firsts and favorites is the one at Grace Cathedral in San Francisco that you see to the left. 










 I couldn't stop drawing and painting Labyrinths. Here's one I created several years ago. For a great site on how to draw these guys click here 

 Two years ago my wife and I had a commitment ceremony where I created a wedding labyrinth for us to walk through as part of our ceremony.








Labyrinths have once again cropped up in my life. I just discovered one of these quite by accident that was just a couple of blocks from my house. Sadly, I have found many labyrinths in my area are locked away and are not readily available to be used. There is a great site for locating labyrinths. It's called the World Wide Labyrinth Locator


Walking Labyrinths can be a very magical experience. Here's a few instructions for walking one.

1. If you can, walk a labyrinth barefoot.
2. Before you walk think about something you're looking for an answer to. As you walk to the middle ask for guidance about the particular issue.
3. As you walk back out try to clear your mind and be receptive to whatever answer you might get in whatever form you might receive it.

If you can, walk the labyrinth a few times in the next few weeks. Journal your experience and see what comes from it. Please feel free to post your experience. Happy Labyrinth Journeys!

The Healing Power of Music

I'm so excited to see this movie,  Alive Inside: A Story of Music and Memory. It looks like an amazing documentary on music being able to reach those who seem completely unreachable.

Thanks Piet Mondrian

This weeks work was inspired by the Dutch painter Piet Mondrain. I have to say sometimes I just don't know what art projects will work well with those with Alzheimer's or for the elderly for that matter. Sometimes you think you have a great project and it just flops. Well this project was a winner. I was shocked at how everyone settled in and just really focused on the project.

Here's where I got the idea for the project, Piet Mondrain for Kids. They do a great job explaining how it works. I would recommend getting some of Piet's work that is similar to what you'll be creating to show your participants. Having a little bit of history on this gentleman is great too. You'll find info at his website here.

I first made a sample myself to show the groups. Then I premade all of them by just adding a couple of lines of tape on each page of card stock. Each one was a little different, I had them pick one that spoke to them. Then I would ask them where they would like to put the next line of tape. Once they felt there was enough lines, I gave them red, yellow, blue and black paint to use.

What I love about my groups is I try to give them a few rules to go by and they usually break all of them. I LOVE THIS. While I tried to have them stick to squares and rectangles there were many triangles and other wild shapes. They'd mix their paint to come up with other colors and THAT'S what I love about the creative process.

At the end of the class I like to ask each person to talk a little about their work. I try to see if they can come up with a title and any other thoughts or feelings they have about their work. 

Love Week

I've been pondering what to have the peeps create for the week of Valentines. So I decided to head to my favorite site in the whole wide world...Pinterist of course, and start to do a little search. Came across the Useyourcoloredpencils blog and loved the art project that resembles the work of Robert Indiana's Love Sculpture. I like when I can show the peeps that what they are doing is inspired from a well known artist. Much like the painting with scissors project we did a few weeks ago that was inspired by Henri Matisse.

My cat Mike checking out the project. He approves!!

I've found that with elder classes, they actually do quite well when we do a drawing step-by-step. I'll use a white board and walk through each line with them. I like outlining the words in a black crayon and or oil pastel. It creates a nice resist technique so when you paint in the spaces, the paint is easily kept in the right spots.

I recommend bringing in pictures of Mr. Indiana's Love sculpture to show the class. It's also a great conversation piece to see if it triggers any memories in my early Alzheimer's groups. 

I took an 8 1/2 by 11 piece of paper,  folded it so it makes a squire and cut off the excess. Then I folded the paper in half both horizontally and vertically so I had four boxes the same size. This makes it easier to create each letter in it's own box. You could first use a pencil to draw in your letters, and then go over it with a dark oil pastel and or crayon. Then get out the paints, course you could use any type of medium really. I just like the watercolors with the oil pastels due to the resist technique that is created.

Just an FYI...I created these two Love pics very quickly. I didn't even use card stock, which I would recommend, or even watercolor paper. I tried a few different approaches with colors.

Painting With Scissors -- Thanks Matisse

I came across this project idea a couple of weeks ago and was able to use it in both my classes. I have to say this is probably one of my favorite projects. It's simple, it uses a lot of cutting which my peeps seem to love to do. It had to be modified just a little for each group, but my early Alzheimer group really got into it and didn't need much prodding from me at all.

I first saw the idea on Pinterest (of course) then started to do a little research and found this story about Henri Matisse and all about how he started to "Paint with scissors" later in life. Awesome story!!

What I like about this project is it's great for anyone who can use scissors. Old, young and in between. Feel like you can't draw? Well then this is perfect for you. Just start cutting colored paper and just see what happens.

The top picture above is the one I created in I'd say about 15 min. I call it "The Amusement Park" because some how...and I don't even know how I did it...I created what looks like a mouse. So then it got me to think about Mickey Mouse and from there I got my title.

So if you're feeling creative and don't know what to do....this is a great way to get your creative juices flowing. The other pic's you see are from my students. 

Chinese New Year Lanterns

This week with the peeps I decided to use the cherry blossom project and mix it with the Chinese lantern project (In honor of the upcoming Chinese New Year). The results were so amazing. First off, the people I work with are challenged in many ways. Blowing Ink around on a paper to create the limbs of a cherry blossom is not the easiest for those who are completely healthy. One young woman was totally exhausted from her first project, but was eager to make another one. When she was finished she told me it was probably one of her most favorite projects so far.

I have to say watching people be creative, never ever gets old.

Peace Friend

This week's art project was in honor of Martin Luther King Day. I thought I'd go with a peace theme. So I had participants paint out their own peace sign. Here's how we did it.  I taped out a Peace symbol on the back of a paper plate using masking tape and then told them to think "Tie Dye" while they painted using watercolors as the medium!

 The project was a huge hit. It was fun to watch them tear off the tape and watch their expression as they saw this amazing peace sign outlined by their work.Those moments never get old.

Want to make one? 

Here's what you'll need:

* Large Paper Plate (That's what I used for this project, but any type of sturdy paper would work).
* Masking Tape - just three pieces used. One down the middle of the plate, and two smaller pieces on either side.
* Watercolors - nothing fancy. As you paint I really do suggest you think "Tie Dye!" Start with a lighter color (like a light yellow or green) then getting a good amount of extra water on your work take your brush and dip into those shallow pools of water and watch the "Tie Dye" effect effect happen. It's fun!
* Black Sharpie type pen to outline project when done. 

BONUS!!!

As a bonus I'm going to give you a doodle project for the week. Below you'll find a peace sign you can print out, doodle on (ever heard of Zentangles? LOTS of doodle ideas there), color, paint, whatever you like. Then I want you to  think about all the things that make you feel peaceful. Write a list on the back of your peace sign, or in the middle of it. Then try to do just one of those a day for the next week. Off the top of my head for me I'd say meditation, walking in the woods, sitting in the sun...ahhh,  I feel a little more peaceful just thinking about it.

Just Click Here  And on the top left you'll see a button that says, "download". Hit that and you can print it out.

Peace my friend!