Middlesex artist helps others bid against Alzheimer’s
Author: Anne Johnston/Wednesday, September 21, 2016/Categories: Press Releases
- CANANDAIGUA – Ten years into her journey as a caregiver for a parent with Alzheimer’s disease, local artist Elaine Verstraete relies on her creativity daily as she finds ways to keep her mother stimulated and bring a smile to her face.
Now, Verstraete is using her creativity to help others who are living with Alzheimer’s, as well.
With a studio in Middlesex, Verstraete has illustrated more than a dozen children’s books and has done illustrations for arts festival posters as well as for several organizations and businesses, including the American Lung Association and Wegmans.
Approached by a member of the UR Medicine Thompson Health Senior Living Team, she recently created a painting now featured in a silent auction to raise money for the team’s contribution to the Walk to End Alzheimer’s, set for Oct. 15 in Canandaigua.
Titled “We Help Each Other,” the oil-on-canvas painting is professionally framed, measuring 23 inches wide by 13 inches high.
With dappled light symbolic of what happens to a person’s memory as Alzheimer’s progresses, the scene captures Verstraete’s mother in a moment of happiness, and also depicts a display of support from a loved one as the two share a walk together.
Verstraete said she was heartbroken when her mother – her “best friend” – was diagnosed at 68. It has been painful as her mother has forgotten who she is, as well as all they have done over the course of their lives
together. And yet while there is no denying the negative aspects of the disease and its toll, she wanted the painting to show how “the good moments are there, every day.”
“Fortunately, loving her each day and providing her with a home life through this 10-year endeavor has provided us the opportunity to love each other for who we are today,” Verstraete said. “She knows my face and lights up when we are together. And I still remember all the wonderful that she was ... and still is.”
As a seasoned caregiver who has been through many chapters in her journey with her mother, Verstraete is at a point where she felt like the timing was right to do something for the Alzheimer’s Association. While she
hasn’t yet leaned on the organization for support, she knows there may well come a time when she needs to.
“This is an opportunity for me to give to the Alzheimer’s Association,” she said. “Hopefully it makes a difference.”
Aimee Ward of Ferris Hills at West Lake, who approached Verstraete with the idea, said the UR Medicine Thompson Health Senior Living Team is grateful for her support.
“Elaine is such a talented artist, and the fact that she would lend her talent to this cause – with such a beautiful painting that is so deeply personal – means a lot to us,” she said.
Ward said people interested in bidding on the painting can email her at Aimee.Ward@ThompsonHealth.com, call her at (585) 393-0410, visit a special web page set up for the silent auction – www.FerrisHills.com – or write in their bid at one of the locations where the painting is being displayed over the coming weeks: - Sept. 23 – Sept. 30: Ferris Hills at West Lake, 1 Ferris Hills in Canandaigua
- Oct. 1 – Oct. 8: Pat Rini Rohrer Gallery, 71 S. Main St. in Canandaigua (artist reception from 3 to 5 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 1)
- Oct. 9 – Oct. 15: The M.M. Ewing Continuing Care Center, 350 Parrish St. in Canandaigua
- Oct. 16 – Oct. 22: The Highlands at Pittsford, 100 Hahnemann Trail (artist reception at
2:30 p.m. on Monday, Oct. 17)
Ward said bidding is to continue until midnight on Saturday, Oct. 22.
To generate additional proceeds toward the UR Medicine Thompson Health Senior Living Team’s contribution to the Walk to End Alzheimer’s, posters featuring the painting are on sale.
The posters can be purchased at Ferris Hills, at the M.M. Ewing Continuing Care Center or online, at www.FerrisHills.com. The posters will also be available for purchase at the UR Medicine Thompson Health Senior Living Team’s tent at the Rochester Walk to End Alzheimer’s, on Saturday, Sept. 24, and at the Canandaigua Walk to End Alzheimer’s on Saturday, Oct. 15.