Flutterby is medicine for the soul.
Yours.
The patients you deal with.
The families you support.
Flutterby is an educational program presented in an artistic way that moves you to experience things otherwise difficult to grasp. It helps you gain a deeper understanding of what families go through and learn how to connect with patients and support families. It opens up your heart and mind about how to be with a loved one near the end of life.
Flutterby has two parts:
- Performance Art:
A 40-minute dramatic reading by Andrea Kay with musical accompaniment. Her intimate, emotional narrative is drawn from journals that recorded her visits with her father before he succumbed to Alzheimer’s disease. The story she tells is personal yet universal. It is filled with the hopes, fears, elation, sorrow, humor and grief familiar to those who have faced a loved one's death. See Video
- Visual Art:
An exhibit of 17 framed art pieces and narrative, based on drawings Andrea made of her father during their visits. Her artwork reflects the power of art to communicate when words fail. See Gallery
The two parts can be presented together or individually, depending on venue, program and your particular needs.
See How to Use It
Why people love Flutterby
Background
In the last year of Andrea’s father’s life, she traveled to where he lived about once a week to visit him. She asked him if she could sketch him; he nodded and said, “Yeah.” It became their ritual.
“It was a way for me to give him complete attention. And it pulled me into him in a deep and intense way,” she says. The work is called Flutterby—the word her father remembered during one of her visits that she used as a child to say “butterfly.”
The artwork and narrative had its first exhibit at the Carnegie Visual and Performing Arts Center October 22-December 1, 2010. A staged performance of the work premiered at the Carnegie theatre October 22.
About Andrea Kay
An award-winning artist and writer with more than 30 years experience creating artwork and writing related to self expression. Artwork spans ink and water color, charcoal and paper mache to pastels, acrylic, clay and handmade paper. Writing includes five published non-fiction books and more than 1,200 syndicated newspaper columns.
Professional Experience
- Commissioned work of ink and water color and paper mache, 1990-Present
- Artwork hangs in hotels, private homes and commercial office space.
- Syndicated columnist and author, 1988-Present
Art Shows
- Carnegie Visual Arts and Performing Arts Center—Flutterby artwork and dramatic presentation
- Atlanta, Georgia International Conference of Thanatology Association--dramatic presentation
- Orlando, Florida National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization Conference (November, 2012)--dramatic presentation
- Collaborating artist for Visionaries & Voices Art Auction Gala
- Wyoming Art Show--ink and water colors
- Montgomery Art Show--ink and water colors
- Hyde Park Art Show--ink and water colors
- Beth Adam Congregation Art Show--paper mache
Honors
- First Place, Drawing, University of Cincinnati Art Show, 1985
- Second Place, Drawing, University of Cincinnati Art Show, 1985
- Recognized by Ohioana Library Association for Literary and Artistic Achievement
- Women In Communications Gem Award
- Leading Woman Award for Consulting, Training and Education, 2009
- Best Career Counselor, Cincinnati Magazine, 2002
- Outstanding Speaker, Society for Advancement of Management
- Best Program of the Year, National Association of Women in Construction
Education
- Bachelor of Arts, Kent State University
- Art Academy of Cincinnati
- University of Cincinnati
- Private lessons in sculpture & clay, drawing, paper making, watercolor
- Continuing education includes coursework through American Counseling Association, Association for Humanistic Psychology, Gestalt Institute, Career Masters Institute, Berlitz Language School, Donald W. Reynolds National Center for Business Journalism, Ball State University
Media Experience
Syndicated column in USA Today and other media outlets. Heard weekly on radio show on WGRR-FM.
Other experience includes weekly contributions to NPR and ABC and CBS affiliates, hosting live radio call-in shows, interviews in hundreds of outlets, including Reuters News, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Chicago Tribune, Associated Press, Smart Money, Kiplinger Financial Magazine, Redbook, Mademoiselle, National Business Employment Weekly, First For Women Magazine, Essence, Woman and Financial Woman Today.
