The Guide to Alzheimer's Painting As An Inspiring Creative Activity
Painting is the art supply that I find people usually associate art therapy and working with people experiencing dementia. As an Art Therapist for people with dementia, It’s not always what I do with clients, but it is a predominately used medium. One reason for this is it’s accessible. It’s easy to get paper and watercolors or canvas and acrylic paint.
My original hope for this guide was to speak about painting in general, but the more I thought about it, the more I wrote, I realized this guide should be specific. Watercolors, Acrylic and Oil are three very different mediums. For that reason, you’ll be reading and learning about watercolors only. I hope to provide an additional post in the future on acrylic painting. To be the first to know about that post, sign up for my email list. It’s going to be inspiring, I promise!
You can expect a lot of information and details in this guide. If you’re following all the directions, you may want to bookmark this page for referring back to. This will help with any questions you have as you move through the activity. As always, send me an email hello@arttherapistsathome.com with any questions you have.
Now to the watercolors…
The goal of this article is to get your person with Alzheimer's painting. This might be for the first time or a reigniting of their former painting skills. In this guide, you can expect a walkthrough of preparing and participating in a watercoloring experience for you and someone with cognitive challenges. I will make supply suggestions and let you into my Art Therapist mindset for painting with dementia.
This will not be a one-size fits all.. It also won’t be a recipe to get to a specific ending. Everyone’s results will look different. This is process art.
Let’s start with two background questions
Is painting good for Alzheimer’s?
The act of painting has many benefits. As an Inhome Art Therapist for people with dementia, I believe watercolors have properties that can create feelings of relaxation, as well as connection and support enhancing your focus. These are all qualities that can help with enhancing the quality of life of someone with Alzheimer’s disease. Yes, focusing on focusing for someone with Alzheimer’s disease can be a goal!
Watercolors are considered a “fluid” art supply. They glide easily across the paper and are great for gross motor movements. They are easily adaptable to meet the capabilities of people in the different stages of Alzheimer's Disease and varying dementia-related illnesses. They might be the stimulating activity you've been looking for and didn’t know you could try.
Does a person with Alzheimer’s need experience painting?
Absolutely not. No experience is necessary. Painting may be something that can come naturally to someone living with dementia and I hypothesize that it has something to do with acting on impulses. A lot of people have trouble with acting on their impulses and in this instance it’s okay to act on impulses and let the paint be your guide.
Working North of Boston in client’s homes, I’ve worked with a variety of people from a diverse background of occupations. I’ve worked with art collectors, computer engineers and lawyers who had never created art before working with me. I’ve also worked with former artists, who now in their dementia are working with different art medias. In my experience, I don’t think it matters what a person’s experience with art is. All that really matters, is the human connection we make. They see that I see them.
Sometimes former artists will need to try a different artform than what they’re used to. I like to start with watercolors and see what happens. It’s all about being open to anything. Art has the ability to open doors when we least expect it. I think the best experiences are when clients who generally can’t focus or wander a lot during the day start to move their brushes and become engrossed in the moment.
If you’d like a more detailed post about the broader benefits of art therapy, read this previous post. If you’re already hooked and want to get to the Alzheimer’s Painting Activity, keep reading!
Alzheimer’s Painting Activity:
Watercolor Paints on Watercolor Paper
Goals
Creating goals always helps me gain perspective in my in home therapy practice for people living with Alzheimer’s and related dementias. I create goals for each client that are related to their current capabilities. Going back to initial goals reframes the experience and what successful outcomes are. I find I’m not as let down if someone can’t or doesn’t want to participate the way I set out for them to participate.
In the watercoloring activity, I have a few goals in mind. The first goal of this activity is that we focus on the process. Yes, it’s nice for things to look nice. Being open to the personal experience of someone and the product being a representation of that helps create a safe and trusting space for the two of you. It does not matter what the results are.
When we don’t care about the finish line, the person with dementia might feel more in control than usual. That feeling of control can morph into feeling that someone sees them as capable of holding that control. We are not instructing them, we are giving them the control to go where they want on the paper.
Success is in the connection of the hands to the brush to the paint to the paper and not what that looks like. That’s what makes participating in art therapeutically different from an art instruction. Think process vs product.
Another goal I might have for your person with dementia is to connect and focus on one thing for an allotted amount of time, remembering to match their perceived capabilities. Let’s estimate five minutes to start. Most people cannot create for an hour… keep that in mind.
We want that person with dementia to connect with the watercolors and create on the paper you provide. For the first time it would be great if YOU created alongside the person with dementia. You can also gain benefits by participating, think connections to your person and your own relaxation as you glide your brush along the paper.
One great thing about this activity is that you can use this art therapy activity over and over again, modifying where you see fit. I make many suggestions for modifications, try one on and see if it fits. If it doesn’t, move on the next.
art Supply Suggestions (Required to participate)
Watercolor Paper - Canson brand
Watercolor Brush - My favorite brush
Black Marker - Sharpie works well
Paint Options (Choose One)
Watercolor Palette - Palette
Liquid Watercolors - Concentrated Liquid Paint
Tempera Cakes - Large Paint Cakes
A note on painting options. You may have noticed there are THREE options. All are not necessary. I suggest three because I find that different people do well with different palettes. For a person that has a lot of trouble with decisions and appears overwhelmed easily, I recommend not using a watercolor palette. Sometimes there are too many options on the palette to feel comfortable and confident in a decision. I recommend starting with paint cakes and seeing how the person does.
Paint cakes and the watercolor palette will require your person to put their brush back in the water to get a new color. Here’s an amazing tip I learned from another art therapist: EYE DROPPERS. You can use eye droppers to wet the color palette, the person with dementia does not need to go back to the water to re-wet their brush. I love this tip and hope it can help you!
Liquid watercolors are already set to use. They’re concentrated, so you will need to add water to dilute the color to your liking. I like these for projects that might require you to cover an entire page with watercolor. I like that you do not need to go back to the water to re-wet your brush. You might have noticed that it’s all about simplification, success usually follows.
Get your person with Alzheimer’s painting with preparation
The more you prepare, the more successful you’ll be. Once your person arrives at the table, it’s all in their control. They get to decide whether to participate. Here are my suggestions for prepping your paper for success.
Decide whether you want to use a blank sheet of paper and see what happens or if you’d like to create some structure for the person to work in. If you want to create structure, you can use the black marker I suggest and draw a circle in the middle of the paper (let it take up ¾ of the paper). Another option is you can give the person with dementia a black marker and the two of you can scribble and then paint in the open areas. Once you’ve made this decision and prepped the paper, you can move on to set up your space.
Clear your area that you’d like to work in and get it setup before the person with dementia arrives. Having the table set (think dinner) will make your life easier, and also increase the chances that the person with dementia participates. Who can resist a table with color on it?! Don’t forget to create space for yourself! You deserve this painting opportunity too!
When setting the table, we want to create contrast between the watercolor paper and the table the person will work on. A lot of people experiencing cognitive changes have depth perception or other visual challenges. Setting the table in this way combats those visual challenges.
If your table is a darker tone you do not need to put anything down (watercolors clean up easily with a wipe). If your table is white and your paper is white, I suggest putting down a dark solid color underneath the white paper. I use brown Kraft paper. For some people, newspapers are okay. For others, newspapers can be distracting (think reading) and sometimes seen as disrespectful to the paper to get paint on it.
Get your watercolors:
Next, set watercolors of your choice on the side of the paper with a brush and water ready to go. I suggest using a container that doesn’t look like a cup as your water dish. I usually use an old individual yogurt cup. Think of something that doesn’t look like it should be picked up and drunk from.
Hand over control and let the experience unfold:
You’ve done all the heavy lifting and now you can enjoy your experience. You can take the lead and hand your person the paint brush. Some will know what to do and start, while others will need more support. Some people will be able to follow verbal instructions, while others will need modeling. Some might need the physical support of your hand under their elbow and your other hand under their hand. You can guide them to the paper and see what happens.
I find this to be the most nerve racking part. Having to hand over control to the other person after I took the time to set up is HARD. They get to make the decisions of where or how they want to paint. I’ve done all the work to get us this far and now it’s up to them. I find this to be the part where having big expectations tends to let me down. I’ve learned from doing this a lot to keep my expectations low and to go back to my goals: process, stimulation and engagement with the brush. None of my goals said a pretty picture at the end.
How to combat verbal resistance:
My initial offer to a client is “Today we are going to paint” in a pleasant tone. Tone is everything! If I’m met with some resistance, I might respond with “I’m only here for about ten minutes. Any chance you can sit with me?” Sometimes a time constraint helps someone realize they don’t have to make a big commitment
Real Alzheimer’s painting scenario:
Client: “What are we doing today?”
ME: “I’ve brought some art for us to look at and copy”
Client “What’s the function of all of this?”
Me “To get some creative juices going and work our brains in a creative way.”
Client: “I’m really not in the mood.”
Me “I came all this way and will only be here for 30 minutes. Once those 30 minutes are up you can go on your merry way.”
Client “Well show me what you have”
…. Within about 30 seconds this client is painting for 60-90 minutes. They only stop when they’re asked to stop for lunch.
I share this scenario because it’s important to not give up when your gut is telling you this person will get benefit out of the experience. We can all say no to things, but if the no means you’ll be sitting in a chair staring at the wall, then I’ll take my chances and convince you to creatively connect with me
One more suggestion for those that still feel resistant to painting: “Could you hold this brush for me?” Often a person needs a brush in hand and to be left alone (less talking by us) to see that it has a purpose. When I worked in assisted living settings, I found this technique worked 90% of the time. Less pressure and a little bit of purpose is sometimes all a person needs.
Entering the Art Therapist’s headspace
When trying to get someone with Alzheimer’s painting I have two last suggestions…
Just like you wouldn’t eat off of someone’s plate at dinner, you really should not paint on someone else’s paper. Sometimes that in itself is why someone won’t create. They see someone else showing them what to do on their paper. It might no longer feel like theirs or that they can do what you just did.
Tell yourself beforehand to “allow for space”. Allowing for space can be keeping a quiet space where the person can create without having to speak. Allowing space could also mean giving the person with dementia the opportunity to paint. They'll need a moment to make choices about where and how to paint, as well as what colors to use.
Multitasking can be hard work! I am terrible at it. It can also be difficult for someone living with dementia. An example of this is trying to have a conversation with someone as they’re trying to paint. Silence is okay. It’s hard for us, but creating that space is so important.
You made it to the end! I hope you can grab ideas from this post and know that there is no right way to do this. These are suggestions that I hope can help you on your Alzheimer’s painting adventure.
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