As most of you know, I have a special needs art class every Saturday, and Shelley is always there. She is a delight to be with and oh so creative. I met Shelley 6 years ago at a tree lighting ceremony in Fairhope. She immediately began telling me her life…
I had an art class this week with young boys (7 to 9)… and was astonished that they knew what discernment meant. Well, not the actual word, but the concept. I’m working with a group of women who are teaching young kids VIRTUES and this art lesson was on TRUTH. Others design…
It’s never to late to learn something new. Case in point: I am blessed to have recently spent time with Don’s sister, Earlene. We have been to Europe together and she is an intelligent, delightful, hoot. A superb travel companion, always open to a new adventure. While here in Fairhope,…
Through my art classes I am noticing more and more that kids are having difficulty forming relationships, building self confidence, and managing their social skills. They are not turning to friends or family for help… they are turning to a DEVICE. Social media is a way to pretend you are…
LakeView Neuro Rehab Excerpt from Forgetting To Fly (chapter 19: Bobby) At LakeView, just outside Milwaukee, I worked with patients who were not only brain injured but also paralyzed. I hear you asking… “How do I have an art class with someone who is paralyzed? Let me give you an example:…
LakeView Neuro Rehab Excerpt from Forgetting To Fly (chapter 19: Sudy’s Triumph) While working at LakeView NeuroRehab I met another young lady that changed my life. Sue D. was a quadriplegic, paralyzed from the neck down. She had a little movement in her right wrist that helped her move her motorized…
Lakeview Neuro Rehab Excerpt from Forgetting to Fly (Chapter 18: Meeting Pam) Working in a Nuero Rehab center was much different than teaching art in a public school. First, my patients were all ages in the same class. My youngest was twelve and my oldest was in his ninety’s, although…
What does ALCHEMY mean? The basic definition is: To make the ORDINARY into EXTRAORDINARY. The medieval forerunner to chemistry based on the transformation of matter. Ancient Egypt tried changing base metals into gold through a mystical process. Changing from fixed properties to another substance. Universal laws mixed with spiritual experience. I believe this can happen….
911 ARTWORK is powerful and therapeutic. In order for children (or anyone for that matter) to understand what they are feeling it’s good to draw-it-out. That’s what these kids did in order to understand what was going on around them. When they were finished they were asked, “Tell…
Capturing every thought. Not as easy as it sounds. Another helpful art lesson is also one of my student’s overall favorites. Puppets help us recognize our state of mind. It all comes back to the Law of Attraction. We draw to us what we continually think of. Good or bad….