Feb. 2--The snow was coming down, and Ruth Ann Loving couldn't go anywhere.
For nearly three decades, she'd painted realistic still lifes and landscapes. But on this frosty day a few years ago, she pulled out her acrylics and tried something different -- an abstract work.
"I wasn't pressured to do anything but paint the way I felt like painting. I couldn't go anywhere, and I didn't have any other restrictions," said Loving, who embraced abstract painting after that. "It put me in the right state of mind."
Three of her abstract pieces are featured in the "Arts Healing Journey" exhibit opening this week at Mary Washington Hospital.
The show, a partnership between Mary Washington Hospice and the local arts community, will grace the hospital's fourth-floor lobby for a month before moving to Carriage Hill Nursing Home in March and then Wilburn Gardens assisted living facility in April.
PAUSE AND REFLECT
Designed to showcase the link between the creative arts and wellness, the event features paintings, collages and photographs by 19 Fredericksburg-area artists.
Organizers say they hope the artwork will inspire others to pause for a moment, reflect on what they see and maybe even try to create something on their own.
The artists provided a statement with each piece, discussing why the image or the creative process in general is healing.
"Some of the stories were as powerful as the artwork," said Brenda Lynne, a social worker with Mary Washington Hospice who helped initiate the project.
PROMOTING HEALING
In the fall, Mary Washington Hospice launched its complementary therapies program, which incorporates art, music and massage into the treatment of patients and their families.
Hospice art therapist Jejung So tells the story of an Alzheimer's patient she worked with. The woman had once painted watercolors; but by the time So met her, she was no longer talking. At first, she tried to put the paints in her mouth.
Suddenly, she grabbed the paint brush So gave her and gripped it perfectly. Soon, she started painting and even speaking again, saying "so pretty" as she eyed her creation.
The art didn't cure her, So said. But it clearly triggered a memory and evoked a verbal response.
Hospice has also hung several mandalas -- or circular diagrams -- on the fourth floor of Mary Washington Hospital near the palliative care unit, inviting passersby to fill them in with colors, designs and messages. They've been immensely popular.
"Medicine is important," Lynne said, "but there are more ways to promote healing."
Lynne and So wanted to introduce the concept to the community at large, so they teamed up with Ariel Freeman, a nurse at Stafford Hospital Center who also paints and has a studio at LibertyTown Arts Workshop.
As a nurse, Freeman said she knew that nurturing a patient's creative side could help with healing. But it wasn't until she started painting six years ago that she realized how cathartic it could be.
"We've been taught for a long time about the connection between the mind, body and spirit and how that relates to wellness," she said. "I hadn't made that connection personally until I started painting. It quieted all the chatter. I found clarity I hadn't found in another way."
Freeman started talking to fellow artists about plans for the exhibit, and the response was overwhelming. Some artists even donated their work outright to hospice, meaning money raised from sales will support the organization's complementary therapies program.
NOT JUST PRETTY PICTURE
At first, Elizabeth Seaver, the artist in residence at LibertyTown, said she wasn't sure if her paintings would fit into the "Arts Healing Journey" exhibit.
"My work is very whimsical, humorous," she said. "I thought maybe I needed to have some 'grownup' painting."
Freeman assured her that her work -- including a mixed-media piece featuring a peacock in cowboy boots -- was a perfect fit. Seaver, whose grandmother received hospice care for five years, said she's thrilled to have three of her works in the exhibit.
"If somebody laughs out loud, that's a bonus," she said. "If it makes someone smile, that's great."
A range of creative folks are involved in the project, from full-time artists like Seaver and Loving to hobbyists like Pam Meeuwissen, a hospice chaplain who carries a small digital camera with her wherever she goes.
She was sitting on her back deck when she noticed a swallowtail butterfly had landed on a nearby bush. The picture she made of the butterfly's visit, along with two others -- including one of clouds dotting a blue sky that she shot from a Fairfax parking lot -- will be displayed.
"I started focusing more on nature and that type of photograph simply because that's where I see God," said Meeuwissen. "It's uplifting to stop and smell the roses."
The exhibit will also feature art created by hospice patients as well as at least three mandalas decorated by visitors to the hospital's fourth floor. Organizers hope it will become an annual event, perhaps one that incorporates music and other art forms.
Loving said she hopes people who see the pictures will experience some of the emotional freedom the artists felt while creating them.
"Of course, the viewer can interpret the painting any way they like," she said. "I'm hoping the artwork will speak to people, not just be a pretty picture."
Edie Gross: 540/374-5428
Email: egross@freelancestar.com
"Arts Healing Journey," a collaborative effort between the arts community and Mary Washington Hospice, opens Thursday with a reception from 2 to 4 p.m. in the fourth-floor lobby of Mary Washington Hospital in Fredericksburg.
The exhibit features paintings, collages and photographs from 19 area artists: Mary Beth Algert, Deborah Booth, Nancy Brittle, Audrey Bruno, Dennis Carroll, Rachael Carroll, Bob Gibson, Betsy Glassie, Rick Klingbeil, Susan Krieg, Ruth Ann Loving, Pam Meeuwissen, Carol Phifer, Chris Rok, Carol Resch, Lois Jordan Rogers, Elizabeth Seaver, Sandy Leigh Skipper and Kathleen Walsh.
The works will remain at the hospital for a month before moving to two local retirement facilities. Sales of any artwork benefits hospice's complementary therapy program, which incorporates art, music and massage into the treatment of patients and their families.
-----
To see more of The Free Lance-Star or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://fredericksburg.com/flshome.
Copyright (c) 2010, The Free Lance-Star, Fredericksburg, Va.
Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.
For reprints, email tmsreprints@permissionsgroup.com, call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA.