Beth and I did a painting class at an adult daycare centre today. it was a ball. the class consisted of 4 women. the activity director rather arbitrarily set that number, even tho others wanted to join in. space was at a premium but we could've taken more. the centre's concern is that everyone have an activity. the 4 women were all in their 60s or 70s at a guess. I gather all four were in the early stages of Alzheimer's disease. only one, Ines, seemed so. the other three women were enthusiastic and there to have fun. Ines refused to paint. she didn't, as she said, feel up to it. she is attached to one of the others, Julia. Julia kept urging Ines to pick up a brush, but Ines never did. Ines showed interest, however. she could've wandered off when she left for the bathroom, but she returned to our room. she hung around afterward when we were picking up, too. she just couldn't bring herself to take that active step. alas. Julia was self-deprecating about her own painting, but heartily entered the activity. Judy really went to town. did 5 paintings in the hour, each one procedurally different. one was based on a wash, one on spatters. we used inexpensive (but of decent quality) semi-moist watercolours. I suggested using a stiff plastic card like a palette knife, which Judy did and they all gasped at the effects she produced. they tried each technique that we offered and were thrilled with the results. I forget the fourth woman's name but she made a quite impressive picture of 4 trees. the trees appeared first, then a grassy green below them, then a blue sky above. she then figured out how to colour in between the trees to give depth. the results were quite accomplished. we've done classes with children (ages 2-10), and I don't know if the enthusiasm was any less with these women. they bubbled with conversation, and it was almost all about art and painting. great focus! last year (having taken an arts therapy class (thus an expert in the field)), I tried to entertain my father with painting. he professed not to enjoy it at all. I wasn't trying to cure him, just offer him something to do. what he did was paint his initials and decorate them colourfully. the results were bright and pleasing to the eye. my father had been an engineer, and tho that part of him is gone, I think there remains in him still that which dislikes the imprecise and unbounded. the other women, particularly Julia, were very sweet in trying to encourage Ines to paint. the activity director was more goading in her approach. not bullying, but itresome natheless. it's that you can see (or think you can) that just doing it, painting, would be so good for Ines. it frustrates that she just can't/won't. I believe Ines will paint eventually, for she seemed awful close and her friends were so encouraging, and hope she does. I told her about my father and finished by saying, well you can't force a person and she said no you can't force a person. we plan to do more of this. they were all proud of their work, happy to sign their paintings and anxious to take the paintings home. I have to reiterate that this was as fun as teaching children. they understood the play of it. as fun as writing is, painting is moreso.