Ronald E. Hays is the former Director of the Hahnemann Creative Arts in Therapy Department at Drexel University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and the cofounder of the graduate art therapy program at Eastern Virginia Medical School in Norfolk, Virginia. At the age of 62 he was diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer's disease, a form of dementia. In this viewpoint the authors relate how a leader in the field of art therapy applied his knowledge and skills to improve his quality of life as his disease was advancing. Based on personal interviews and examples of Ron's work they demonstrate how Ron used ceramics to develop a self-facilitated therapeutic process to manage the disease.