Resistance at First

I haven't seen the patients for a while so I knew 

it was going to be tough to get back the momentum today. 

Today, I drew an outline of a head on the paper 

and then talked about "portraits". 

Most of them resisted the idea immediately.

The helpers and I had to "draw" in some shapes for them to color. 

Bill was then happy to paint his blue shirt. 

This gal got a big kick out of painting her "hair" red. 

Then she decided that it was a "he" and was one of the Red Sox.

She had a great time with this.  

Vinny had no interest in doing this, 

but when he left, he told me not to let anyone touch his painting. 

Lorraine chose to paint from one of the photos I brought 

(just in case). 

She has such a sensitive approach to painting. 

(She's the one who used to be a watercolorist)  

My wonderful helper Judy drew this for this patient, 

who then spent the whole hour painting it. 

In fact, she was upset that she 

couldn't finish the green shirt in time! 

I'm learning that with a little encouragement and prodding, 

just putting paint on the paper can be so enjoyable for them. 

I guess that is all I can hope for!