Art has always been a part of me in some shape or form ever since I was a child. The first sign was when I started drawing cartoons and characters as a kid. It developed in my teenage years by taking drafting courses and computer aided drawing programs. I stopped creating art and turned to collecting it instead during my college years, and it’s still something I do to this day. I’m not an artist now because it was a natural talent of mine that I developed overtime, I’m an artist because I witnessed firsthand how the magic of art has a powerful impact on the human psyche.

My art journey was inspired by a man named Uno. He was the one that led me to pick up a paintbrush. My story is unique because I didn’t go to school to be an artist because it was a dream of mine as a kid. I have a BS in Business Administration from Lee University in Cleveland, Tennessee and have built my professional career around helping families,
caregivers and seniors to navigate the aging health services world.

 

That is how I met Uno. And that was when my art journey began. I met with his wife, Pat, to discuss a recent diagnosis, Dementia of the Alzheimer’s type, that Uno was given from the neurologist. She was devastated and at a loss of where to go and what to do. In my position, I am the one that is supposed to lead and help Pat, Uno and their family, but truthfully, I believe that they have changed my life tremendously. They helped me rediscover something within myself that I had been missing since I was a child - art.

 

Throughout my visits with Uno, I could see the disease taking its toll as his memory began to fade away. It was frustrating for him because he knew something was changing within him, but there was no way he could stop it. Uno was an artist, and one day he asked to show me some of his pieces. This day changed my life because I witnessed a man that was losing his memories be able to describe in extreme detail what paint he used, the style, color palette, the year he painted it, how it made him feel and the reason why he painted those pieces. It moved me on the inside. In the moment that he was describing his pieces and reliving those times, he didn’t have a disease, he wasn’t sick. He came alive when he was remembering those times; it was the magic of art moving through his spirit. 

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Shortly after that day, I approached Pat and told her of an idea I had of starting an art therapy program for dementia patients. With a resounding, ‘Yes!’ I soon began planning and working to see the idea through. I reached out to the H’Art Gallery in Chattanooga, Tennessee and scheduled a time to meet. Brooke Montague and I sat down to orchestrate a program that would accommodate 10 or so participants. The classes filled up week after week with individuals and caregivers coming together to enjoy creating art and finding a new way to express themselves. I attended each class because I felt it was important to me. It was effortless how my creative side was inspired by these folks.

 

The day I painted my first painting, sitting next to Uno, is a day that will live inside of me forever. Uno has since passed on and met with his Father in Heaven. I will always miss him, but his spirit and his art will continue to make a difference in my life. 

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