Residents dress as art gallery of famous paintings

FAMOUS paintings throughout the ages have been recreated by Saltburn care home residents and staff as part of an art competition.

A gallery of artworks was put together by those living and working at Hazlegrove Court Care Home, on Randolph Street.

Using wigs and costumes, they dressed and posed to reproduce 22 paintings from the 15^th century through to the 20^th century.

Among those was Peggy Bland, 94, dressed as Christ and the Virgin Diptych, by the Early Netherlandish painter Dirk Bouts from circa 1470–75.

She said: “My son will love to see the picture we recreated.”

Joyce Tibbett, 93, dressed as The Laughing Fool, by Jacob Cornelisz van Oostsanen from circa 1500. She wore her giraffe onesie to recreate the picture.

She said: “The things I’ve dressed up as since I’ve lived at Hazelgrove Court; a snowman, the Easter bunny, a circus clown and now The Laughing Fool. The photo is really great. I like being a work of art.”

Jean Caley, 74, recreated The Blonde Woman, by Leon Comerre, originally painted in the late 19^th century. She said: “My children will love this.”

Walter Ross, 90, and carer Julie Deakin recreated The Creation of Adam, by Italian artist Michelangelo from circa 1508–1512. Walter said: “That looks really good.”

And Dot Paling, 74, dressed as Countess Golovina, a portrait painting by Elisabeth Vigée-Lebrun from circa 1797–1800.

Sharon Lewis, activities coordinator at Hazelgrove Court Care Home, said: “We took part in the competition to coincide with Art in Care Homes.

“I knew our residents would enjoy it as they love dressing up, drama and theatricals. They enjoyed looking at all of the artworks and choosing their favourites to recreate.

“Residents made headdresses in preparation to enjoy the build up to the day. Then we created an art gallery in the home to celebrate the wonderful recreations.

“Staff really enjoyed it as well, trying on wigs and headdresses to make residents laugh.”

Hazlegrove Court Care Home was named runner-up and received £100 for their entries into an art competition run by the Hill Care Group, which operates the home.

Hill Care operations director Mandy Vernon was on the judging panel for the competition, which involved the group’s 36 homes across the north.

She said: “We had fantastic entries from all our homes. The creativity on show was incredible, as works of art from all genres and ages were recreated. A lot of fun was had by residents and staff and it was difficult to pick a final winner.

“Hazelgrove Court Care Home was named as runner-up after they recreated a whole gallery of artworks. Their amazing effort saw 22 famous paintings brought to life by residents and staff and a fabulous display put together in the home.

“Our congratulations go to the staff and residents as well as all those who entered and took part.”