Recycling Art

My husband, Bob, is in late stage Alzheimer’s. He’s cared for by four Balinese men in a cottage not far from my house.  He usually eats facing a wall instead of out into the garden because of the way his table is situated.  This had been bothering me for awhile. I wanted him to have something to look at when he eats since he’s now fed, having lost the ability to do it himself.

I have some serigraphs made long ago (these are original artist’s hand made prints) and had brought some here to Bali to cut in half for painting on the unused side.  Two survived the dissection and as of a week ago one now graces Bob’s dining wall. 

I wondered if he would even notice the print entitled, “The Mountains Admiring the Clouds”, with mountains shaped like faces looking at clouds shaped like animals and people. When I look at it now I shutter at my choice of colors for this piece created in 1980.  It’s too happy, too bright, too innocent, and not the way I would paint it today with a more sophisticated palette and a different vision.

When I stopped in to see Bob yesterday, the caregiver was feeding him. Bob was intently studying the new art work on the wall. He talked about it as though the characters were alive and he was surprised to hear that I had created it.  During the time I was with him he wouldn’t let me turn his wheelchair to face the garden. He was fascinated by the art piece.

"The Mountains Admiring the Clouds"

“Where’s the fish?” he asked. I honestly hadn’t really looked at the serigraph in years. After studying it I found a fish in the clouds, “There it is Bob. It’s an angel fish.”  “Who’s that woman?” he asked pointing to a female profile emerging from a unicorn’s tail. He asked lots of questions which mostly I didn’t understand. A lot of what Bob says makes little sense these days plus he speaks very softly. 

I left Bob’s house thrilled to know this discarded work of mine is doing some good, is brightening my husbands life, and giving him something to talk about. It’s peculiar as an artist, that often pieces I don’t like for one reason or another still speak to someone else. It’s as though they have a life of their own.  And this piece with it’s garish colors and simplistic theme is no exception. It speaks to Bob and its a way in, to connect with him again.

I have many prints left from this addition plus two other editions of other themes and all three share the qualities of innocence and simplicity.  I’ve wondered what to do with them since I’m not in the business of selling two dimensional art any longer.  Perhaps I can donate them to nursing homes, hospitals, and schools where they can be used to inspire youth and touch hearts fenced in by age and disease.  That’s all I ever wanted from my work - to touch people’s hearts.