I am so excited to share with you that I now have a library of videos to share with you in one place!
News
Painting Winter’s Treasure as a Family
My family knows what makes me happy – anything we do together! So when they agreed to make a collaborative winter painting with me I was beyond excited. The catch? We had to be done in about 90 minutes and certainly under two hours! What a sweet memory and painting that I will always treasure.
The Blessing Tree Gathers and Delivers Love to 200+ Homebound Seniors In December
The Blessing Tree initiative sprung from my heart knowing the pain and isolation of seniors dear to me. I put out a public call for help to collect love in the form of cards and gifts in partnership with St. John’s Catholic Church and Jerry’s Flowers & Gifts.
A huge thank you to all our neighbors, family and friends who sent in such generous love for our homebound seniors! Together we enriched the lives of over 200 local residents by letting them know they are valued, loved and not forgotten.
Delivering over 4 car loads of gifts to one of our local nursing homes. 
Staff at Heritage Hall happily receiving
135 bags of gifts for their residents.
Announcing our effort to our neighbors… 
Thank you Jerry’s Flowers and Gifts for serving as a collection point, and for all your donations of bags and sweets! 
Decorated with love and ready to fill! 
Our home had quite the assembly line! 
Just some of the precious gifts from children that made my heart melt! 
Gifts donated included large print bibles, lotion, sweets, socks, books, artwork, masks, plush animals, gloves & hats. 
My husband and daughter made sure everyone got their share of goodies 🙂 
Thank you to all our thoughtful donors! 
Special Delivery # 2 for Local Healthcare Heroes
I know that the well-being of our healthcare workers has been on all of our hearts throughout this pandemic. They sacrifice so much to care for our loved ones. We will never be able to thank them enough, but I know that any expression of our gratitude goes a long way. Perhaps you, too, could send in a platter or send cards to heroes in your area?
Items I included in this delivery: Paleo bars, snacks, assortment of antioxidant-rich teas, nuts, protein and nuts bars, mints, and chocolates.
Come hear my webinar about Creative Aging 11/19/20
Please join me online this Thursday, November 19, 2020 at 10:30am as I present a webinar on the value and benefits of participating in the arts for older adults. A big thank you to Dementia Friendly Leesburg/Loudoun for inviting me to share the powerful transformative gift the arts can be in our lives! To register, please click here and you will be sent a link to the Zoom talk: https://cognitoforms.com/AgingConsultantsGroup/CreativeAging1119WebinarLinkRequest
Free Spring and Summer Online Classes during COVID-19
My family and I have made a series of four art videos that you can watch for free until August 31st. Whether you just watch them or want to paint along with me, we hope you enjoy our gift of love during these challenging times.
Each episode lasts 20-30 minutes and includes a little journey to find the inspiration for our painting, step-by-step instruction, and inspiration from older adults I’ve had the honor to have as my students. They too, at one time, said “I can’t paint”, which later became “I can’t believe I painted that!” Oh what joy we’ve shared together and how I miss them so!
If you need a list of recommended supplies, please click here.
As an extra gift to those who wish to subscribe to my mailing list, I’ll send written step-by-step directions for all the videos below, and announcements of more resources to help us continue to be inspired and connected to one another.
Art Totes for Seniors and Caregivers
It makes me so happy to sponsor and deliver totes of art supplies for seniors and caregivers to be able to paint along with me this spring. I’ve distributed about 25 totes so far, and hope to be able to keep doing so. I never thought I’d be excited about finding two bottles of paint before!
70 Care Packages for Nursing Home Residents
Giving brings me joy! During the first month of quarantine, every resident at my local nursing home received an Easter goodie bag filled with lots of love, little tasty treats and fragrances of spring.
If you’re looking for a way to help others during these trying times, please consider sharing your love with the seniors in your community. Some of the items I included were individually packaged items like lip balm, lotion, candies, cookies, pens, unsweetened drinks, nuts and dried fruits, aromatherapy oils, and flavored teas.
Art Supply Delivery for Nursing Home Residents
During one of my trips to the grocery store at the start of our state’s stay-at-home orders, I found these wonderful scratch art books and decided to buy several and tear them apart to give as an activity for the residents. Unfortunately, there weren’t enough wooden sticks, but thankfully my husband came to my rescue and together we made about two dozen sticks from dowels we happen to have tucked away. I love how during COVID so much of our time is able to be spent working together to bless others.
Two Families Use Facebook Fundraisers to Support Art Classes at Nursing Home
In the fall of 2019, two families asked if they could each do a Facebook fundraiser to help underwrite my programs so more residents at the nursing home could continue to paint after our summer grant from Dementia Society of America had run out. You can imagine my joy – and that of the residents who got to keep painting!
Here are just a few of the happy faces and beautiful paintings which resulted from over $2,000 of kindness and generosity! I’m so thankful for all who have allowed me to take pictures so that I can share their joy and mine with you.
A huge thank you to the Preletz and Long families, and all those who supported their fundraisers for our senior artists!
