Seniors display artistic talents
McCarrick Care Center celebrates creativity in exhibit
By Chris Donahue
Staff Writer
SOMERSET — Although they no longer use their talents in the working world, for raising a family or in community service, residents of McCarrick Care Center are showing through artwork that creativity and imagination are gifts that can be used for a lifetime.
To show its appreciation of its seven artists in residence, the center held its first exhibit, which featured dozens of examples of paintings, photographs and handmade items such as embroidered tablecloths, linens, towels and crocheted blankets.
Angie Tirso, activities director, introduced the artists to residents of the center who attended the event. The five artists then cut a ceremonial ribbon and went to their respective displays to discuss their work.
Rich tapestry
“At this stage of their life, I want them to feel that just because you’ve aged, there are many things you can do,” Tirso said. “It is a continuing journey of what God has given them for gifts.
“It makes them feel more special, they feel good about themselves, they are happier, less isolated and they have something to look forward to.”
The center is home to 120 senior citizens and each is “a legend,” Tirso said.
“This is just a highlight of some our particular legends. It’s a way to show appreciation of how rich McCarrick is,” she said.
Tirso would like to make the event an annual affair, possibly highlighting the creativity of the residents from earlier in their lives.
Stitches in time
Stella Michalski, 92, formerly of Carteret, displayed some of her crochet work, which included bright patterns such as a heart. Each piece takes about four or five days to complete, said Michalski, who donates them to St. Matthias Parish, Somerset, for its annual craft show.
“I work steady every evening until about 9 o’clock,” she said. “Now that I’m retired I have a lot of time. I’m doing more now because when you are keeping house, you can only do so much.”
Michalski uses a pattern for an idea or creates the design as she goes along.
“I’ve been doing this since I was 13 years old. My mother taught me,” Michalski said.
“When we were growing up, we didn’t have the toys and things the kids have now. If we got a pair of skates we were happy. So when we got together (in the neighborhood) one would teach the other, ‘Where did you get that pattern? My mother showed me how.’
“We were all from the same school (Holy Family). I had two older sisters who were good at it.”
Standing at her display of needlepoint and several photographs of rural scenes, Mary McHugh, 90, said her mother, also Mary, taught her when she was a little girl growing up in Malden, Mass.
“You can do it any time you want to. It’s very easy to do. I’ve always done it. I’ve always liked it.”
McHugh, who moved to Somerville after she married, also uses patterns, but other than that, there is no secret to being good at needlepoint.
“You don’t make too many mistakes once you start doing it,” she said.
Colorful contributions
Stanley Walters, 87, displayed several of his paintings, including a jungle scene with a jaguar painted bright yellow at the base of a tree, which was covered with vivid green leaves.
As a boy growing up in Rutherford, Walters said he loved working in coloring books, but did not begin painting until he moved into the McCarrick Care Center.
Walters, a retired engineer who worked in maintenance, said the paintings took about five days to complete. Working about four hours each day, he used different sizes of brushes depending on how intricate the detail was.
“When it’s raining out or cold, you find something to do. It’s nice to sit in your room and paint,” he said.
Walter’s daughter, Michelle Gaskel of North Brunswick, a member of St. Augustine of Canterbury, Kendall Park, said she appreciates all the activities that the center offers the residents.
“It’s wonderful because they really get to express themselves,” she said. “It shows you can do things like this no matter what your age. And the staff encourages it and interaction, which is important to them.”
Father John M. Skwara, former pastor of Sacred Heart of Jesus Parish, South Plainfield, created brightly-colored picture puzzles. Father Skwara said he enjoys doing picture puzzles because it’s challenging but relaxing.
Rita Carina, 89, said she began painting late in life, and some of her works, which included still life and landscapes, were displayed with crafts she made.
Carina lived in Milltown for 83 years and was active in the borough at Our Lady of Lourdes Parish, the Historical Society, American Legion and other community groups. She also published a newsletter and helped research a book on the history of Milltown.
To create two of her paintings, Carina used toothpicks instead of a brush to make one and Q-tips for another.
“I’m a person who did things different all my life,” she said. “I never married and was the oldest of six children in my house.”
Creative expressions
Artists Kathleen McKeon and Mary Brown, whose works were also displayed, were unable to attend.
Brown’s work consisted of intricate hand-stitched quilts and sketches.
McKeon’s display featured some of the many poems she wrote throughout her life, including one that entitled Time, which was published in Friar, a Franciscan magazine, in December 1964.
*The attached/referenced article was originally published in The Catholic Spirit, the official newspaper of the Diocese of Metuchen, and is protected under U.S. and international copyright law