Video: Painting Keeps This 93-Year Old Painter’s Mind Sharp

LOUISVILLE, Miss. (WCBI) – The mind is a muscle and has to be exercised to stay in shape.

The older we get, it can be harder to do, which is why it’s important to do things to keep our minds sharp.

That’s one reason why a Louisville painter has been painting for decades.

Mrs. Kathleen Weeks brings her memories to life through paintings, helping her reminisce and express her feelings.

Weeks started painting at the young age of eight years old, and decades later her paintbrush is still going strong.

Once a memory pops in her head, the week long making of a painting takes place.

“I set it up and I study it until I get it perfected.”

It’s those perfected markings that draw people to her artwork from all over the country, including this man from Florida.

“It’s her memories. It’s original. It’s hers, it’s what she knows. It’s her story,” says George Garner.

Painting out her memories is what keeps the 93-year old’s mind active.

“Very excited when I’m thinking about what I’m going to paint next, and the good memories that it brings up, and I can hardly wait to get to work on it.”

Rewinding back almost eight decades can be hard, but Weeks says the decade old memories stay fresh in her mind because of this.

“When you get older, I think you go back many years because those are such pleasant memories to bring up, and you love to remember those people.”

Winston County Medical Center Senior Care Services Activities Director Kristin Knox says art therapy does so much for the mind, especially for the elderly.

“We have a wide range of activities every day. We do things like art therapy and that’s a big one for dexterity, and for your mind, and for your emotions, creativity. There’s so many things that doing the art therapy helps with. Also music.”