Book launch: The Hen That Laid The Golden Omelette

Retired-nurse Barbara Potter AM and artist Barbara Davison share more in common than their birth name.

Both are passionate about maintaining the dignity of people with dementia.

On Tuesday their efforts were recognised with the book launch of The Hen That Laid The Golden Omelette, a collaboration of art and stories by people at various stages of dementia.

The book is a record of the Sefton Art Project, an initiative set up by Ms Potter and Ms Davison ten years ago to give people with dementia a creative outlet through watercolour painting.

Ms Potter has an extensive backlog of family members who have lived with the disease and made it her vocation to change attitudes towards memory loss.

“They used to put people with dementia in mental hospitals and it was ghastly,” she said.

Her private and professional relationship with the disease led her to become one of the founding members of Alzheimer’s Australia and from that position she was able to travel overseas and learn about possible initiatives to help her cause.

“I saw many remarkable things that people were doing for dementia, and I came back to Australia determined to implement some dignified and respectable activities for people who live with the disease,” she said.

As volunteers they were restricted, but Ms Potter and Ms Davison only ever used the highest quality paints and materials at the Sefton Club Day Centre where they hosted regular art classes.

Ms Potter said Ms Davison and herself told their own stories to encourage a comfortable environment for that kind of exchange.  

She said reminiscing would not only ease anxiety but inspire creativity.

The title of the book is taken from one of its works by Bunny Rutherford, who is no longer alive.

Ms Potter remembers the careful consideration of a 93-year-old Ms Rutherford as she mused over what to call her piece.

“You could see her searching in her brain and then she found what she was looking for. With a crooked smile she said: The hen that laid the golden omelette.”

The Hen That Laid The Golden Omelette is priced at $35 and is available for purchase here.

All proceeds will go directly to the Sefton Club Day Centre to continue providing meaningful activities for people with dementia.

Photo: L to R, Uniting AgeWell Manager Integrated Services Jill Monk; MP Georgie Crozier; Alzheimer's Australia Chief Executive Maree McCabe ; Barbara Davison and Barbara Potter AM.