Following Painting's Quiet Call to Adventure

Author

Kelly Allen, Western Michigan UniversityFollow

Files

Description

Yael Goverover, OTR/L, Ph.D, professor and post-professional program director of occupational therapy at New York University at Steinhardt (NYU), provided the cover art for the summer issue of The Open Journal of Occupational Therapy. This oil painting on canvas, titled, Still Life, 2024, features an arrangement of everyday objects with vibrant tones of gold, yellow, orange and green found in the vase, coffeepot, fruits and botanicals set against a backdrop of scarlet and striped patterned fabrics. She created this piece while on sabbatical in Israel as she studied under the tutelage of a seasoned oil painter. The composition is derived from two different arrangements combined into a single image, and is one of her many works that feature elegant, celebratory arrangements of still lifes, landscapes, and figures. While she refers to it as ‘a vacation,’ painting from observation is a difficult practice that provides never-ending problems to solve and opportunities for growth. With art as a lifelong occupation, the skills of careful observation and self-reflection gained from years of painting have helped to deepen her observation and problem-solving abilities required in her roles as an educator, clinician, and researcher focused on interventions for individuals with neurological impairments.

Keywords

occupational therapy, observational painting, still life, leisure occupation, mindfulness, mental health, self-reflection, neurology, clinical practice

Disciplines

Occupational Therapy

Recommended Citation

Allen, Kelly, "Following Painting's Quiet Call to Adventure" (2025). Open Journal of Occupational Therapy: Occupation and the Artist. 51.
https://scholarworks.wmich.edu/ojot_occupationandartist/51