Your DISABILITY can be TURNED to an ABILITY

Be a Winner!

How do you SEE yourself?

When you think about what you do as an artist or writer, what kind of image of YOU comes to your mind?

I can say that I choose to see ME as a WINNER.

I see ME as successful in my life.

Success is in inner FEELING that we have. It does not depend on any outward circumstances. It is internal. It is a STATE OF MIND!

After I lost my eyesight in 2007 it seemed that I would never again be able to make art or write.  I decided very quickly that I wanted to take charge of my own circumstances and that would happen through my own determination and decisions. I chose to continue on with life as I had known it – making art, writing poems, and being the creative being I always was.

To do this, I had to LEARN to ADAPT. Yes, it was true my life had been greatly altered.

Despite the circumstances, I determined to again make ART and to WRITE.

I began working towards my goals a little at a time. I knew I had to learn new ways of making art and writing. Step by step, I did just that.

Last weekend, one of my bead worked pieces was honored at the Associated Artists of Butler County Spring Art Show –

I got THE FIRST PLACE AWARD in the Mixed Media Category!! The winning art work is “Party on the Allegheny River.” 

This work was created from small smooth stones I gathered on the Allegheny River near Oil City, PA as I was out in a CANOE. This was AFTER MY  SIGHT 

LOSS!

Above:  Party on the Allegheny, side view.

Below:  Girl on a Bench Sees Visions of Butterflies

This is very special to me because this was one of the first bead work pieces I was able to do after my sight loss experience. It was a struggle for me to again do this kind of delicate bead work. The beads are so small that most people can barely feel them between their fingers when they pick one up.  But, with perseverance, I learned HOW to do it and HOW to get a very miniscule needle through those tiny holes in the beads.  I do it non-visually!

Another of the bead work pieces I designed and completed was a self-portrait of me as a child. This piece is called _Girl on a Bench Sees Visions of Butterflies_ and features a vintage pocket mirror with a photo of me as a small child on it. I used this idea as the centerpiece for my art work.  It had been given to me by my mother, long ago.

Surrounding the photo mirror is  an array of Stone Carved Roses made from CORAL GEMSTONES.  This picture features many, many tiny Japanese beads.  It is a fine and intricate type of bead working – every item on this piece is made from and surrounded by BEADS.

I chose to do it in a vintage print, from the 1940’s because that is the era when the photo would have been taken of me on the bench. I wanted a nostalgic feeling in the art work and it was important to begin with a fabric from this decade.

The exciting news here, is that THIS PIECE is currently on display at an international invitation exhibition – the Small Works Salon – at the New Arts Program, Kutztown, PA.  I will attend the opening reception there on May 25^th and have a JOY of knowing that MY ART WORK is worthy of such a wonderful international art show.

I share these things with YOU so that you can get the feeling of finding success and a winning attitude in your own creative life.

You can BE whoever you DECIDE you WILL BE.

If you have a disability  it does not matter

You can FIND your OWN way

CHOOSE to overcome that challenge.

You will see! 

You can do it, too!