LUDLOW, Vt. – At the Sept. 26 meeting of the Ludlow Rotary Club, illustrator Jane Hart encouraged members to follow the lead of a tradition in Tunisian cafés, where people make drawings together at a table while sipping their coffee. She encouraged them to follow her lead of posting a whimsical drawing daily on Facebook. She has an art therapy background, and feels everyone should doodle and draw often.
Hart started drawing at Sing Sing Correctional Facility, a maximum-security prison operated by the New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision. She saw art therapy as a refuge and an option for inmates. When an inmate left, she gave them a notebook and pen, and told them to draw every day, for life. She now works at the Westchester County Jail via Zoom. Some inmates have committed serious crimes, and many are vulnerable people.
Hart gives them a prompt from which they draw. She herself, however, does not draw from a prompt. She has the pareidolia trait, which is the tendency to perceive a specific, often meaningful image in a random or ambiguous visual pattern, such as seeing an elephant in a cloud formation, or a face in a tree trunk.
Hart shared her second book of images with the club. In response to a question, she said the book was self-published by a friend, which she indicated is a challenge. Her first book was titled “Stop Screaming: How some of us made it through Covid-19.” Her website is PetsByHart (www.petsbyhart.com). In closing, she encouraged the Rotarians to draw on a board she provided for an absent member of the club.
Anyone interested in learning more about joining Rotary is invited to contact Kevin Barnes, membership chairman, at 802-228-8877, to receive an invitation to a meeting.