How could my elderly Mom's artwork suddenly improve with moderate dementia symptoms?

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AsianDaughter Asked May 2022

How could my elderly Mom's artwork suddenly improve with moderate dementia symptoms?

My 91 yr old mom was a very talented artist with a modest career. When she moved in with me last July she was creating small collage pieces that required thoughtful composition, photo selection, etc. In short, they were complex, nice pieces.

Within several months her dementia began to appear and the "quality" deteriorated and eventually these pieces were basically one photo cut out of a magazine, typically National Geographic because the animals were "cute" and glued to cardboard.

Last week, however, she produced a collage that resembled her earlier work. She still does the single photo collages but where did her brain get the skill to produce something similar to her earlier work? Her dementia is fairly pronounced and consistently declining so how does one pull this out of their hat?

Thank you for your insights.

Alzheimer's & Dementia Moderate Dementia Senior Activities

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score 1 · Answer 1

Thank you everyone for your thoughtful replies. It is comforting to see Mom enjoying any art😊

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score 2 · Answer 2

My two cents -- How lovely for you and for her to have these beautiful moments. My mom too was an artist. I wish she could have had moments as you mother has had.

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score 2 · Answer 3

Lately, when I bring my three year old grandson to see my mother, my mother actually SMILES. This from the world's crankiest dementia patient.

She even joked with him! She had no time or interest in him AT ALL before she went into MC. Never really even liked baby boys!

She remembers where she had hidden the little stuffed animals that he likes to play with. She can't remember one minute ago, generally.

Her connections definitely do strange and wonderful thing when our little guy is around!

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My mother had the same reaction to her great grandson. In fact, she was semi-comatose for 4 days (and dying) when my son & his wife came by with her great grandson. She immediately woke up and smiled when he was placed on her bed! She was making kissing noises at him and interacted with him for about 15 minutes before she went back to sleep. Amazing, isn't it?

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score 1 · Answer 4

But one more mystery on the long train. One can only wonder.

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score 1 · Answer 5

My Aunt was pretty much into her ALZ. My cousin went to visit her and he was told she sat down at the piano and played it. She hadn't touched a piano in years.

There is no rhyme or reason to Dementia.

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score 1 · Answer 6

Some very ingrained thought processes are more resistant to the destructive effect of Alzheimer's.

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score 1 · Answer 7

It helps me to think of the brain as an electric light with a cord. If the cord is partially pulled out of the socket, the light bulb may light, or sputter on and off, or not light at all.

If by chance the dementia patient’s brain happens to “light up” it may briefly work perfectly or sputter a bit and stop working, or not work very much at all.

Before Covid we loved the visits that were my LO at her best, and overlooked the not so good visits as much as possible.

Parts of your LO’s brain may be relatively intact, but she can’t always activate them or activate them at her command.
How beautiful and fortunate for you that she has created what may be her last “good” effort for you so that you and she can enjoy it together.

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score 2 · Answer 8

Happy accident, probably. The right materials to hand, a tranquil period, and your mother feeling well that day. Who knows? But in any case if even chocolate box kittens on a piece of card help her to keep pleasantly occupied that's excellent. May she long enjoy her creativity.

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score 2 · Answer 9

Don't try to make sense or apply logic to a brain disorder. Your mother will have clear and lucid moments mixed in with incoherent times where she doesn't know what the heck is going on! That pertains to her art, too, and everything else she does. Dementia is like a roller coaster, with good days, bad days, and everything-in-between days. She isn't pulling anything out of her hat..........she's just having a very good day when she's creating a lovely artwork for all to enjoy! Focus on the good days and enjoy the 'old mom' when she does appear.

I know how hard it all is, to navigate the ups and downs of dementia; my 95 y/o mother suffered with it for 5+ years and I watched ALL of it with my own two eyes. Wishing you the best of luck with a very difficult situation.

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score 1 · Answer 10

Everyone is different so dementia will look slightly different in each individual. The human brain is so complex, I've read other stories about people with advanced dementia having some rare, random and very lucid moments.

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How could my elderly Mom's artwork suddenly improve with moderate dementia symptoms?

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