About

Making Art Work

Karen and Brian Romeril are a team who design, draw and paint – with Brian specializing in perspective drawing techniques and Karen as principal painter.    

After living in and travelling around Europe for 12 years and Florida for 6 years, they returned to Canada in 2000 and shortly after arriving, were commissioned to provide artwork to projects such as the Avon Theatre’s renovation,  the restaurant Falstaff's, the Discovery Centre and the luxury hotel “The Bruce”, in Stratford, Ontario.

In 2010 they were asked to disguise some doors in an Alzheimer’s Unit of a Long Term Care Home to relieve the frustration of exit-seeking residents.  That idea “snowballed” and the Romerils have now completed over 600 “exit diversions” on doors to enhance safety and relieve resident anxiety.  It was during one of these early projects that they had a chance encounter with Gail Elliot, Gerontologist, then Assistant Director of the Gilbrea Centre for Studies in Aging at McMaster University (now with her own consultancy, “DementiAbility”).  Ms. Elliot advised the Romerils of the special needs of persons living with a form of dementia. More projects followed and more advice from specialists and psychogeriatric resource consultants at the Alzheimer society.

Today, Karen and Brian work almost exclusively in providing solutions for dementia care environments, resulting in the current array of interactive murals and activity-based backdrops. With uplifting, retro and relatable imagery, the goal is to help mitigate negative behaviours experienced by residents in Memory Care, associated with confusion, anxiety and boredom.

Painted projects have now been copied onto hard wearing materials in a self-adhesive format in order that distance clients in nursing care home administration may self-install. The Creative Art Co team now regularly ship murals to Long Term Care nursing homes across Canada and the U.S.

Creative Art Co are proud to serve our clients in Memory Care, Making Art WORK!