I would like to respond to a comment from someone suggesting I include something of their life story demonstrating their contribution to our society.
The sitting is an insular experience which involves only me and the subject.  The sitter sometimes becomes actively involved by suggesting poses or expressions that are more typical of them.  The reactions to the process differ: dialogue between us as I work/draw; their monologue; a palpable silence.  They are usually pleased with the end product but that has become secondary to the actual process and what comes out of that.
The process identified often becomes the vehicle to further discussions sometimes resembling a life review or narrative in kind.  I feel that the sitting establishes a special bond between the subject and myself as evidenced in ongoing conversations, confidences and hugs.  Overall, I believe the experience has enriched both my art and my nursing practice.  It has made me more conscious of an aesthetic awareness that I have learned is unique to me.
That being said, portraits should have both a personal and universal appeal if they are to belong to the realm of art and timeless.  So if someone asks me “who is it?” when they look at one of my portraits, I feel I have failed.
The story can draw you into a person’s life and it is important but in the moment, it is the aesthetic that transcends and endures….it is the aesthetic that should speak to the viewer.  Thus my goal is to hone my artistic skill in portraiture to engage people in the beauty in ageing facilitating  a better understanding of the life cycle.

The one truth that has crystalized with me while working with older adults as a nurse and as an artist is that the longer we live, the more unique we become.  In a material world, that would make us more valuable, but the reverse seems to happen; we marginalize our elders.
The western world has created a society that is focused on production. Once you no longer contribute then you have become almost superfluous.  Even worse, you are likely seen as a drain to the economy….
There are positive theories on ageing that see life as a journey of personal challenges that can lead us through the developmental stages in life; each contributing to an accrued personal wisdom.  Lars Tornstam’s  theory of gerotranscendence is one of those theories…. http://www.atpweb.org/jtparchive/trps-43-11-02-166.pdf
Could we facilitate a positive awareness of aging by engaging our elders rather than marginalizing them?

 Having a foot in both art and nursing has offered me some interesting insights.  I suppose it is not too surprising as nursing is often referred to as an art…
It was nursing literature that first introduced me to the possibilities of different ways of knowing.  Carper introduced her “Fundamental Patterns of Knowing” in 1978 as the following: personal, empirical, ethical and aesthetic. Aesthetic knowing is the process of perceiving the nature of a clinical situation and interpreting this information to understand the meaning for those involved. This is at the very heart of nursing… and art.
It was a course in hope studies at the University of Alberta that bridged the gap, affirming an aesthetic awareness that really impacts both my nursing and my art.  According to Denise Larsen, "The field of hope research is vast, with research indicating that higher levels of hope are associated with beneficial outcomes in virtually all studies including, physical and mental health, education, sports, and even business. A hopeful orientation, despite adversities faced, encourages active engagement in life and creative problem-solving. " (For more information, please click on this link.
Our world seems to be biased toward empirical knowledge… would our lives/world/cultures be richer if we were more open to knowing in different ways?

​I am suggesting shifting our aesthetic vision as a means to embrace our ageing, or what I have taken to referring to as my ‘third act’.  I would liken it to applying cognitive behavior theory (CBT) to ease anxiety.  CBT is a type of psychotherapeutic treatment that helps patients understand the thoughts and feelings that influence behaviors. In applied practice, we explain that thoughts, emotions and behaviors are intimately connected so if you can change one element, there will be a corresponding beneficial shift in the others…

The goal of CBT is to teach patients that while they cannot control every aspect of the world around them, they can take control of how they interpret and deal with things in their environment.

Similarly, though we all know life marches on through youth into old age, if we can change or be more cognizant of how we SEE human beauty, perhaps it would shift how we feel or think about ageing.  Alternatively, if we could engage with our elders (i.e. alter behavior) and find how authentically relevant they are, perhaps we would experience the rich ephemeral beauty of the craggy, asymmetric lines of age.
Engage with an older adult and listen to the story....​

​We have come to value things with history and antiquity; things with noble wear coloured with the patina of time but what of our aged folk.  Have they not earned our regard; can we not see their beauty?
 As a visual artist, my aesthetic goal with the elderly is to express the beauty of aging: rice paper skin, meandering lines, embedded eyes that see forever, strained postures and distorted joints burdened by the physical decline of time’s fate yet glowing with an existential beauty undefined by words.
Our western culture’s vision of human beauty evolved from the Roman-Greco ideal based on youth, strength and symmetry.  Is there any wonder we shrink from the idea of getting old?  We live in a youth-oriented society where physical and mental strength rules.  It follows that signs of ageing should be avoided at almost all cost.  Cosmetic surgery is a burgeoning global business…
Could we shift our visual culture to appreciate this ageing beauty?