SHEILA "IRIS"
GALLERY: THROUGH THESE EYES
This is my mother, Iris. She's beautiful inside and out, cares greatly for her family and friends, loves deeply and wants to be loved, craves ice cream more than anyone I know...and...she has dementia.
When my father died of cancer in 2008, she wanted to forget. She begged to forget. And she did. "That's not what I meant! I just didn't want to hurt anymore!", she'd say. Sadly, that wasn't a choice any of us got to make. Since then, her decline has been gradual, but steady. She still remembers her children and her beloved Robert, but what she did or said thirty minutes, or sometimes thirty seconds ago, eludes her.
She wants purpose. She wants to help people and touch their lives. It's hard, though. The basic senses that most people have been blessed with are now failing her. She can't see who just walked into the room. She doesn't hear very well...and she doesn't process information like she should anymore. It's scary to try to give her things to do, for fear she might hurt herself or others. But I want to. I want her to be happy and have the purpose she desires and feel like she's able to contribute.
I kept racking my brain for ideas, then it hit me! "How cool would it be to see through her eyes?" She loves all things bright and shiny...and purple. She loves purple! That was it! I decided to take her down to Hobby Lobby and start our painting journey together. Watercolour seemed the best choice, safer and easier to let her loose, without the fear of harm (or difficult cleanup-haha). So here we are.
Please walk with us on this journey and share my mommy's love. Her eyes may be dim for daily necessity, but they're bright and abstract and wonderful for artistry. Let's appreciate it together.
By Melanie E. Holbrook
spotlight
Piece: "In the Beginning" Date: Sun., Sep 20, 2015 This is the first time Iris put brush to paper. It was totally the unknown for her. I was very eager to see what would happen.
Piece: "In the Beginning" Date: Sun., Sep 20, 2015 I had already thought about titling this, "In the Beginning", but I didn't tell her that. I didn't want to influence her personal creativity. But then it appeared...a circle. "Did that represent the world?", I wondered. "And a 'B'? Could that symbolize 'The Beginning?" I was quickly realizing that I loved that title for her beginning as a painter, as well as how much it represented her personal faith.
Piece: "Of Flowers and Doggies" Date: Sun., Oct. 04, 2015 Feeling proud of her second piece.
Piece: "In the Beginning" Date: Sun., Sep 20, 2015 This is the first time Iris put brush to paper. It was totally the unknown for her. I was very eager to see what would happen.