Tom Owens is Recognized for his Artwork and his Personalized Techniqes!
By Adam Leech
aleech@seacoastonline.com
September 13, 2009 2:00 AM
Tom Owens leaned in, moved his head ever so slightly, then moved back to take a look at his progress. His careful touch and attention to detail are apparent, as every stroke of his brush slowly brings a blank canvas to life. But inside, the 53-year-old man who was born with cerebral palsy comes to life as well.
Owens uses a wheelchair, has difficulty speaking and has little use of his hands, as is the case with many tenants at Betty's Dream, a facility created 20 years ago to enable disabled adults to live independently while receiving care and assistance.
For most of his life, Owens did not realize he was an artist. In fact, up until last January, Owens never had the ability or opportunity to try anything artistic.
Then one day, Doug Harnden bumped into Owens outside the building on Longfellow Lane. The maintenance worker at the complex had started volunteering to teach residents how to water paint and asked Owens what he could do with his hands, which he found to be basically nothing — certainly not hold a paintbrush steady.
"I said, 'Can you move your head?' And he showed he could so I told him, 'We need to stick a brush up your nose!" said Harnden. "Well, it was said as a joke. Then the next day we got together to try to devise some way to get a brush to stay attached to his head."
What they came up with was a ball cap with an extra-large paper fastener clipped on the bill with a hole drilled in it, which held a paint brush.
With some paint and a cup of water elevated on the table next to him, Owens quickly caught on and produced some impressive work with basically no assistance. Since then, Owens' talent has emerged even more as his landscape scenes decorate a corridor in the facility.
"I can leave Tom in here for six hours and he wouldn't mind," said Harnden. "He just loves to paint."
"A lot of students come in here and have a hesitancy, or wait for Doug to map their every move out," said Sandy Mahoney, Harnden's assistant. "We set him up and put everything at his height and check in on him a couple of times ... He just has such a natural eye for the art that he's doing it with great quality."
The goal of the program, Rainbow Watercolors, which is in its second year, is to open up opportunities in the arts for people at Betty's Dream.
Some members went to the WCSH Channel 6 Sidewalk Art Festival in Portland, Maine, last month to display and sell some of their work. Harnden said he wants to get more residents involved.
Mahoney said the program has also had a positive impact of her life, as well as on her husband, Steve, whom she lives with at the facility. Steve was artistic before a traffic accident in 1985 resulted in a head injury that caused his dominant hand to switch from left to right. They started the program together and have also found Steve's talent re-emerge, while Sandy has developed a new passion.
"It's done some amazing things for him," said Mahoney. "And me as well."
The program has had a noticeable effect on Owens' outlook, according to Eric Delage, who works for LifeShare Management Group Inc., and has visited with Owens regularly the past five years.
"It's changed him. Before, I'd leave and he'd just wait and look forward to the next day and now that he has this outlet he's realized he's creative. I think he's surprised himself," said Delage. "I couldn't paint like that with my hands, so it's really cool."
They are currently looking to secure a van so that members, most of whom are wheelchair users, will be able to visit museums, do on-site paintings and show off some of their work. Harnden said the work may soon be displayed at a local gallery.
"We'd love to take these guys out in the field to Prescott Park or something like that," said Harnden. "It's been great and I hope we can keep it going."
