Art and Dementia: Heather Dawn Batchelor's Vision for Healing

Guest: Heather Dawn Batchelor

Episode Summary:

In this episode of Art Heals All Wounds, I speak with Heather Dawn Batchelor, an abstract expressionist painter and arts practitioner with Arts in Health Ocala Metro in Florida. Heather shares her personal journey with art, influenced by her artistic family, and her work with Memory Cafe, a program supporting individuals with dementia and their caregivers through creative arts.

Key Points:

1.     Heather's Background:

o   Heather grew up in a creative family, with artist parents.

o   Inspired by a ballet production on PBS as a child, she has been chasing the sensation of creative expression through various artistic mediums ever since.

o   She pursued art school, studying painting and photography, and connected deeply with abstract expressionism.

2.     Art and Healing:

o   Heather explains her desire to make the invisible visible, striving to capture spiritual elements through her art.

o   Art serves as a form of personal self-care and emotional expression for Heather, especially through challenging times.

3.     Memory Cafe:

o   Heather leads the Memory Cafe, a program for dementia patients and their caregivers under Hospice of Marion County.

o   The cafe offers arts and various activities to engage participants, supporting both dementia patients and caregivers.

o   Heather shares moving stories of transformation and empowerment through art, emphasizing the universal need and benefit of creative expression.

4.     Impact on Caregivers:

o   The program also benefits caregivers, providing them with much-needed support and a creative outlet to process their experiences and stress.

5.     Future Plans:

o   Heather discusses potential virtual components for Memory Cafe, ensuring accessibility for caregivers and patients unable to attend in person.

6.     Personal Connections:

o   Heather has a personal connection with dementia, having supported friends and family members, including her father, through the condition.

Links and Resources:

·       Heather's Website: heatherdawnbachelor.com

·       Arts in Health Ocala Metro: Provides resources and information about programs like the Memory Cafe.

·       Marion County Hospice: Hosting the Memory Cafe and supporting dementia care initiatives.

Contact and Feedback:

·       Pam encourages listeners to reach out through her website and sign up for her newsletter for updates on the podcast.

Music:

·       Featured Music by Ketsa and Lobo Loco

Production Credits:

·       Edited by Iva Hristova

Tune in to hear how Heather Dawn Batchelor uses art as a tool for healing and connection in the realm of dementia care and beyond.

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Transcript

Heather Dawn Batchelor [00:00:00]:
Ultimately, we are there because there are people suffering with dementia, and we want this to facilitate for them. But if we're just sitting around watching them, that's not what this is about. We want them engaging in the same thing that we are doing.

Pam Uzzell [00:00:27]:
Do you believe art can change the world? So do I! On this show, we meet artists whose work is doing just that. Welcome to Art Heals All Wounds. I'm your host, Pam Uzzell. Today's guest is Heather Dawn Batchelor, working in Arts in Health Ocala Metro in Florida. Growing up, Heather's family gave her the gift of art. Both of her parents were artists, so she probably inherited a bit of that creativity. But more importantly, art was a family practice, used to work through difficult times and emotions, and also to express joy.

Pam Uzzell [00:01:17]:
Heather is an internationally recognized artist known for her expressive abstract work, but she spends a large part of her time giving the gift of art to others. She's one of the arts and health practitioners that I met last spring at the Arts and Health Intensive at the Center for Arts and Medicine at the University of Florida in Gainesville. Heather leads a program called the Memory Cafe for folks suffering from dementia and their caregivers. Her personal story goes full circle, and it ripples outward, providing an outlet for those grappling with loss, confusion, frustration, and exhaustion that's a reality for both those suffering from dementia and their caregivers. In the welcoming space of the memory cafe that Heather leads, she's creating a community of creativity and support. You wanna know how you can really help me keep this show going? Follow me on your favorite listening app. So easy. Right? And if you really wanna give the show a boost, leave me a five star rating or review.

Pam Uzzell [00:02:36]:
Hi, Heather. I am so glad to see you again. Thank you for being on the show today. Can you tell people who you are and what you do?

Heather Dawn Batchelor [00:02:46]:
Hi, Pam. Thank you for having me on the show. Yes. My name is Heather Dawn Batchelor, and I am a visual artist. I'm an abstract expressionist painter, and I'm also an art practitioner with Arts in Health Ocala Metro.

Pam Uzzell [00:03:04]:
Yes. And we met at the Arts and Health Intensive at the University of Florida, and I really loved the program you're doing there with Arts and Health. But before we get into that, I would love to know your background in art. When did you start creating art? When did you start painting? What is the backstory there?

Heather Dawn Batchelor [00:03:27]:
Okay. Well, I grew up in a home with artistic parents. So my mom always wanted to be a musician and was always working on her piano lessons, you know, so we always had a soundtrack in the background. And my dad was a photographer as well as a businessman, but his heart, he was a tortured, you know, photographer. And his mother had been a painter. So art was definitely a part of our home growing up. And my first real encounter with art that kind of set me in that direction was in grade school. I was sitting at the end of my parents' bed in their bedroom, and I was watching PBS, and there was a a ballet production on the television.

Heather Dawn Batchelor [00:04:16]:
And I was sitting there watching it, and I was I was so, captivated by what I was seeing, the music and the movement and the artistry that I physically moved, like, involuntarily. Like, my body, I just wanted to be a part of it that I it was almost like a twitch, you know, and I remember it very clearly. And I I like to say that I've basically been chasing that sensation my entire life, You know? Wow. So I went on to get involved in ballet and immerse myself in ballet. And then it was music. It's been pretty much, an ongoing search for that connection with what I'm feeling inside and how I express it, whether it be through music or dance, acting. And then I went to art school, And I went to, Herron in Indianapolis School of Art, and I studied painting and photography. And I remember sitting in the art history class and seeing Franz Kline, who was an abstract expressionist, and we know him mainly from his black and white abstract, a lot of lines.

Heather Dawn Batchelor [00:05:37]:
And it just again, that feeling of being this time, though, it was like, oh, that like, that's the language I speak. I can communicate that way, or I understood that language. And that was it, abstract expressionism. It combined expressing my emotions and being connected with, that visual representation, and I've been doing it ever since.

Pam Uzzell [00:06:06]:
Wow. Well, I've looked through your work online and on Instagram, and it is so beautiful. And it is very expressive of emotion. And I was reading on your, your bio or your about statement on your website, And there's a quote that I really, really loved. And you said, I'm trying to make something invisible, visible to somehow reflect a glimpse of the spiritual.

Heather Dawn Batchelor [00:06:38]:
We're just going to go deep, really fast. Aren't we just jump in?

Pam Uzzell [00:06:42]:
Yeah. Yeah. Well, I thought that's such an amazing way to put the quest of probably many, if not most artists, is you're trying to communicate something, and you find a form or a medium that helps you do that. And I'm so curious to know, we are going to go deep a little bit. Do you have moments when you're painting where you feel like, yes, I did it. And other moments where you feel like, not yet. And it's kind of that thing of unfinished business? Or how do you feel when you're painting a work? And how do you know when you've expressed something that really you wanted to?

Heather Dawn Batchelor [00:07:27]:
Very good question. And so it's kind of twofold. There's definitely that moment that I'm seeking where it's kind of like the runner's high. You know, it's like all the preparation, all the study, all the past experience comes together, and you're able to just be free. Like or or like a ballet performance. You've practiced and you've done the rehearsals, and now it's time for the performance. And you go in and you shouldn't have to be thinking anymore, where do I go? What step comes next? It's an outflowing of all the preparation and it can be free and unhindered because of the preparation that's gone in beforehand. So there's that experience that I get to experience as an artist when I paint And then there's the reality of what that looks like on the canvas.

Heather Dawn Batchelor [00:08:29]:
So sometimes I get to experience it, and it might not translate onto the canvas as a masterpiece or a coherent composition. Sometimes it does though.

Heather Dawn Batchelor [00:08:43]:
And

Heather Dawn Batchelor [00:08:43]:
when you keep reworking, you know, in art and painting, I can go back in and tackle it again the next day.

Pam Uzzell [00:08:50]:
The other thing I saw on your website is something that I learned a little bit about in the arts and health intensive, and that is the workshop you run called Memory Cafe. Can you talk about this? What is it? What is the Memory Cafe?

Heather Dawn Batchelor [00:09:07]:
So the Memory Cafe is it's a once a month program put on by Hospice of Marion County here in Ocala, Florida. And it is for patients suffering with dementia and their caretakers for them to come in, and we just put on really activities for them. And we've added this artistic component. So we have, like, joggin' your noggin. We we play old music and, try to get people to remember the name or, you know, name that tune, things like that. And we have, snacks and treats and dance time. It's wonderful. So this year, they added an art component, which I usually facilitate that I head up for Arts and Health Ocala Metro.

Pam Uzzell [00:09:58]:
Tell me about how did you get into working with patients with dementia?

Heather Dawn Batchelor [00:10:05]:
So I have two children, and I homeschooled them at a certain point. And I put them in a homeschool coop. And to be part of this coop, you had to teach a class. So, obviously, for me, that was gonna be the arts. And I started working with middle schoolers. And I chose middle schoolers because subconsciously or somewhere inside of me, I knew that I wanted it wasn't about necessarily teaching art, necessarily even teaching skills. I wanted to use art to encourage, to build self confidence, to foster healing, and I thought middle school, of course. That's the most, traumatic time.

Heather Dawn Batchelor [00:10:53]:
But, you know, I wanted to just connect with the students and engage and and help them find their footing if there was an art voice there. I wanted them to find it. So I did that for ten years, and it was wonderful. Did I got to see, a lot of engage with some students, and they found their voice through art. And some of them found healing and found a safe place or a way to express their emotions they couldn't otherwise, so it was wonderful. So about the time that that was ending, I had a very dear friend, her name was Barb, and she was diagnosed with dementia. And so she had to move out of her home and in with her son at that point in time, and I started going over once a week and visiting with her. And then I started taking the art supplies, and she was resistant at first.

Heather Dawn Batchelor [00:11:49]:
She did not see herself as a creative. She had been, in finance. She had prided herself on learning to fly an airplane, you know, so she was she felt she was analytical and logical, not a creative. So I just took it, and sometimes I would just paint and she would just watch, you know, but it was there for her. And eventually, she became comfortable with the materials. She decided to pick it up and just try it. And I was able to use this with her for years as she progressed, and it was interesting to note that while her dementia progressed and worsened, her art progressed and got better.

Pam Uzzell [00:12:38]:
Wow.

Heather Dawn Batchelor [00:12:38]:
And she ended up having a body, a coherent body of abstract work, that I was able to frame and, you know, give to her family and friends. And it created, such a sense of accomplishment in her. And she she started to do it when I wasn't even there, so I'd come the next week and she'd present what she had been working on. So she just gravitated towards it, and I saw it build in her that confidence, that sense of pride. And then so then I had a couple other friends ask me if I could work with their maybe family members or something like that. So I knew it was for me, I knew it was that, connection of art that I loved and healing and encouraging. So then fast forward to about two years ago, my father was diagnosed with dementia. So that thread continues to, you know, that dementia is in care and facilitating the best care is important to me still.

Pam Uzzell [00:13:44]:
Wow. I did not know about your father. How is he doing?

Heather Dawn Batchelor [00:13:49]:
He's doing okay. He, and my mom are both, if anyone is familiar with dementia and dementia diagnosis, there are several stages, including denial, and this isn't what we thought our life was gonna look like at this age. And especially my mom, you know, she was loves to travel. And so they're they're dealing with a lot, just not the diagnosis and the treatments, but also, like, how it's affecting their life. And so yeah. I've taken my paint set over there. Don't worry. I I showed up with my handy paint set to to help them.

Pam Uzzell [00:14:32]:
It is interesting that you've had so much experience in this area, and we don't know what things are going to occur in our lives and the lives of our loved ones. But I am really happy that you do have this experience. I'm happy for your dad and your mom and for you. I imagine it's challenging for you as well.

Heather Dawn Batchelor [00:14:58]:
Absolutely. Art is still part of my self care as well. A big part of it. So, yeah, when things get full and overwhelming, it's definitely where I go to deal with my stress and relieve some emotions.

Pam Uzzell [00:15:14]:
Yeah. I'm just hoping the best for your dad and mom.

Heather Dawn Batchelor [00:15:18]:
I appreciate

Pam Uzzell [00:15:19]:
So when you do the memory care cafe, these are mostly people who I'm sure you know them now, but are just people who are coming for care and art therapy through the county. And I'm wondering about working with these people. First of all, what types of people come in? Just anyone, like

Heather Dawn Batchelor [00:15:41]:
It's such a broad it's so wonderful. It's all kinds. It's so wonderful to get the opportunity to sit down with them and and look them in the eye, talk to them about why could why did you paint this? Why why did you choose this color? You know? And you get these wonderful stories about, well, my my wife used to paint. You know, she may be gone now, but she was a painter. And a lot of times, the stories aren't about the art. You know? It's about their past experience, and it's just an opportunity for them to share. And I she always wanted me to paint, but I never would. And here he sits now, And so the stories are wonderful.

Pam Uzzell [00:16:22]:
Do you find that a lot? That there are a lot of people who never thought that they could be creative or artistic?

Heather Dawn Batchelor [00:16:29]:
Absolutely. The challenges with the Memory Cafe are very similar to, middle school. You know, the the I have the resistant boys or the mean girls or, you know, the it's all the same. But I do. I still have that same. There's some that just don't wanna participate. They don't they're afraid that they're gonna be judged. They're afraid they're not gonna be good enough.

Heather Dawn Batchelor [00:16:53]:
They're afraid to be that vulnerable or, you know, if I don't have a skill at a certain level, then I'm just not gonna do it. And and working past that, you know, is a challenge for sure.

Pam Uzzell [00:17:04]:
And then what about caregivers who come with them? Do they also participate in art?

Heather Dawn Batchelor [00:17:12]:
They do. And that's been the most eye opening part of this for me. I've seen it work with dementia patients before. I've experienced that. But the caretakers came in and this they would wanna talk. They're exhausted. You know? They're overwhelmed, and they need art therapy. And, again, the art is is a very much a component expressing, but the art is building self confidence.

Heather Dawn Batchelor [00:17:41]:
It's it's, healing. It's, you know, keeping pride intact or a sense of accomplishment as well as expressing emotion. And the caretakers need that as well, that opportunity to, like, again, have someone look at them in the eye. And we're kind of talking about art, but we're kind of talking about life. And, you know, he didn't sleep at all last night and I'm exhausted and, you know, those types of things. So, yes, the caretakers need it just as much. We all need it.

Pam Uzzell [00:18:16]:
It's so interesting because I never do visual art ever until we did the arts and health intensive. And then they were making us do it quite a bit. And it is such a break for your brain. You're using a completely different part of your brain. And there were so many things that I found, I found I was able to absorb other types of information better. While I was working visually, I found that it was a great stress reducer in a certain way. So I can only imagine that if you're caretaking for someone who is progressing with dementia, how beneficial this can be. Are most of the caretakers, family members, or are they professional caregivers?

Heather Dawn Batchelor [00:19:14]:
So, yeah, I was gonna mention that before. We have I'm gonna say roughly half and half, maybe a little bit more from facilities that bring, you know, bus in. So they have a facilitator there with them, a caregiver kind of watching over so many. And then we have another segment where the caretaker is actually bringing them from home. So you've got kind of three different you've got the caretaker living at home. You've got the dementia, the person suffering with dementia, and then you actually have, like, a worker or someone who's employed in that set of stressors.

Pam Uzzell [00:19:51]:
And I'm just so curious. Do the professional caregivers do the art as well?

Heather Dawn Batchelor [00:19:56]:
Oh, yeah. I believe art is for everyone, so I am a big component if possible. And, again, so this is about, you know, ultimately, we are there because there are people suffering with dementia, and we want this to facilitate for them. But if we're just sitting around watching them, that's not what this is about. We want them engaging in the same thing that we are doing. We want them working alongside the caregiver, and it's something that we can connect over, not something we're watching someone else to do or forcing someone else to do. Again, this is good for everyone, and families can come together. They can create together.

Heather Dawn Batchelor [00:20:43]:
They can and then they have that shared experience to talk about. And it it's a facilitator of community. It's a facilitator of engagement. So, yeah, I think it's just as important that whether you're working or not, you participate.

Pam Uzzell [00:20:59]:
That's interesting because when you were thinking, I was thinking about this idea of community and not sort of being othered within your own family or, you know, wherever you might be living and receiving care, that there are activities that are still inclusive and mutual for, everyone.

Heather Dawn Batchelor [00:21:22]:
Well, I mean, abstract expressionism, for example, why I tend towards that even in with the dementia care is because it is not about necessarily how someone else perceives it, but it is about you expressing what's going on inside of you. That's what's important. You have fun. You pick your colors. No one is telling you it has to look a certain way. Do what you want to do because this is empowerment for you. And Barb, back to Barb, so at the beginning of her diagnosis, she was still able to go to some of my shows. And so when she saw the abstract expressionism hung on the walls, like, she was able to start to understand and and connect with it, I think.

Heather Dawn Batchelor [00:22:10]:
And then that did make her feel a little bit more comfortable expressing herself in that way, realizing it does not have to look like a house. It does not have to look like a tree. Use your colors, use your emotion, and create what you want. Wow. So I give lots of examples. I take visual examples every month so that they can start to visually understand because some people aren't familiar with abstract art.

Pam Uzzell [00:22:41]:
And that sounds so empowering.

Heather Dawn Batchelor [00:22:43]:
It is empowering.

Pam Uzzell [00:22:44]:
Well, and I'm also looking at some of your art behind you, which I know people can't see it, but it is so it is so powerful. Yeah. It sort of looks like it reminds me of, like, the power of an ocean wave, which probably is not what you're painting at all. But there's definitely

Heather Dawn Batchelor [00:23:05]:
But I get that a lot. A lot of people see a waterfall or a wave.

Pam Uzzell [00:23:09]:
Yeah. But there's that same feeling that you can have when you go to the ocean of just like being revived in a certain way and something giving out this kind of energy. Yeah. It's really beautiful. And it is really, really expressive.

Heather Dawn Batchelor [00:23:28]:
The invisible affecting the physical, that spiritual element that it it does affect us even though we can't see it. I believe it affects us.

Pam Uzzell [00:23:38]:
Right. When we were at the arts and health intensive, you were talking about other challenges just in terms of transportation accessibility. And I know that you were hoping to potentially have a virtual memory cafe because it was challenging for some of the caretakers, especially as the dementia progressed to get there and to get whoever they were caring for to the memory cafe. Are you still thinking about the virtual component to this so that no matter what stage they are, how far away they are, this is something that they could do?

Heather Dawn Batchelor [00:24:17]:
Yes. Absolutely. I actually had a meeting earlier this week to discuss it with Arts and Health Ocala Metro, and then we're gonna meet with hospice and start sorting through how to get supplies to shut ins. So that's kind of what we tackle next is making sure they have the supplies they need and the accessibility. They're able to log on either live when I'm giving it or recordings.

Pam Uzzell [00:24:46]:
Right. Right. It's such a new world since the pandemic. Sometimes not being there in person, you lose a little bit of something. But by the same token, I've been able to participate in and see so many things virtually that I never would have been able to. It's an interesting. It's an interesting new space to explore.

Heather Dawn Batchelor [00:25:13]:
Absolutely.

Pam Uzzell [00:25:14]:
Are you worried about losing a little something without that, live component of being there?

Heather Dawn Batchelor [00:25:21]:
I yes and no. Yes. I like looking someone in the eye and sitting down with next to them and the experience, but I think there's a way to do that virtually. I just haven't gotten to do it yet, but I believe it is possible and definitely worth, especially the caretakers. If I can sit, like, we're talking right now, and I can see you, and I can still kind of look at you in the eye and share a few minutes and some words of encouragement, empowerment, and some, instruction, you know, for the week and the painting, you know, I I think it's gonna I think it will fulfill its purpose.

Pam Uzzell [00:26:07]:
And I can imagine for caretakers, especially, this could be a little bit of a lifeline.

Heather Dawn Batchelor [00:26:12]:
My goodness. One of the ladies who came in talked to me about, her husband suffers with dementia. So a lot of times, he doesn't sleep at night.

Pam Uzzell [00:26:23]:
Mhmm.

Heather Dawn Batchelor [00:26:24]:
And his sleep schedule is very off. So the night before she was there, he had been up rummaging through bills and getting worried about unpaid bills. So she was up with him trying to calm him down, get him to go back to sleep. So she got very little sleep. And then it was, if they do fall asleep during the day, do I actually wake them up and take them? Like, if I'm finally getting an hour or two of peace and quiet time, you don't wanna interrupt that. And then just being tired to drive, you know, because they drove about 45 minutes, and they're an elderly couple. So there's a need, definitely.

Pam Uzzell [00:27:04]:
Well, I love your work, your artwork, and I love the work you're doing in Memory Cafe. And I remember just being so moved hearing you talk about it when we met at the Arts and Health Intensive. So I'm hoping you can tell people where they can find out more about your work and also how they can connect with the Memory Cafe, especially if they're in Ocala County. Is that Ocala County? Is it a county of Florida? So it's Marion County. Marion County.

Heather Dawn Batchelor [00:27:39]:
And then Ocala is the city.

Pam Uzzell [00:27:42]:
Okay.

Heather Dawn Batchelor [00:27:43]:
So my website is heatherdawnbachelor.com. And I have an email address on there, so feel free to email me any questions. And if I don't have the answers, I'll reach out to Arts and Health and find them or, you know, transfer you on to the resource to the correct resource. As far as the Memory Cafe, that is put on through Marion County Hospice. So they you can Google that very easily. They have a website and find out all the information. And then, of course, I have to say, Arts in Health Ocala Metro also has a tremendous amount of resources on their website.

Pam Uzzell [00:28:31]:
Thank you so much, Heather. It was really great to see you again and to hear more about the work you're doing.

Heather Dawn Batchelor [00:28:38]:
Well, thank you for letting me talk about this. I appreciate it, and it was very nice to see you again.

Pam Uzzell [00:28:47]:
You're listening to Art Heals All Wounds. Thank you to Heather Dawn Batchelor for sharing the story behind her work, both as a painter and in leading the Memory Cafe. Her story really moved me. I'm really glad that such a space exists. I'll put links to Arts in Health Ocala Metro in Florida, and also to Heather's website, so that you can see her work. I think you'll find it to be very, very beautiful and moving. You know, if you wanna keep in touch with me, I'd love for you to go to my website and sign up for my newsletter. I'm not a frequent writer, but it's a great way to find out updates about the podcast.

Pam Uzzell [00:29:51]:
You can also reach out to me through my website with any messages or feedback that you want to share. Thanks for listening. The music you've heard in this podcast is by Ketsa and Lobo Loco. This podcast was edited by Iva Hristova.