[accessibleimage] articles- art, artist, rockets, exhibits, bumps on roads

Hi,
Sending some links with articles and sites following. One site that is interesting is John Bramblitt's. He is an artist who is blind and in his site he shows and tells about his process. Also a couple of articles about him
Regards,
Lisa
http://www.kansascitykansan.com/articles/2005/07/13/news/local/news13.txt
http://www.mysanantonio.com/entertainment/stories/MYSA071305.1P.lighthouse.600ae62e.html
http://www.sfbg.com/39/41/art_c_art_blindatthemuseum.html
http://www.seattleweekly.com/features/0528/050713_arts_vacalendar.php
http://www.theroyalgazette.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050711/LIFESTYLE/107110112
http://www.theage.com.au/news/arts/just-a-breath-away--a-goat/2005/07/12/1120934233696.html?oneclick=true
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,585-1691367,00.html
http://www.prweb.com/releases/2005/7/prwebxml258932.php
http://www.axcessnews.com/technology_071205.shtml

John Bramblitt exhibit
http://www.unt.edu/union/galleryexhibits.htm
2 pictures from exhibit http://www.unt.edu/union/bramblitt.htm
link to Bramblitts site, very interesting
http://www.bramblitt.com/
article from Fort Worth
http://www.bramblitt.com/startelegram.htm
http://www.bramblitt.com/shreveport.htm
http://www.ntdaily.com/vnews/display.v/ART/2005/01/18/41ecb43e62f73?in_archive=1

Art camp gives children unique experience


ABOVE: Second from right, Kit Bardwell, an instructor at Accessible Arts Summer Camp taking place at 1100 State Ave., plays the auto harp Monday, while children sing along. Disabled and non-disabled children, 7 to 13 years old, including five from Kansas City, Kan., are participating in the camp, which will teach them about diverse cultures through music, dance, drama and art. The camp will be offered again July18 through the 22.
By BRANT STACY
Kansan Staff Writer

Diverse cultures will be explored this week at the first Accessible Arts Summer Camp being held at Kansas State School for the Blind, 1100 State Ave.

The camp, which will continue from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. until Friday and again, July 18 through the 22, is open to disabled and non-disabled children 7 to 13 years old. Fifteen children are enrolled in this weeks program that will allow them to experience cultures through art projects, music and drama. Martin English, executive director, said the most important aspect of this camp is that it's all inclusive.

"We feel that it's very important that children with or without disabilities experience the arts together," English said. "It's good for the children with disabilities because they get to do activities for which they are often excluded."

English said four other volunteers plus himself will guide the children in a variety of arts activities. Children will learn about Australian cultures (Aborigne and British settlers) the first week and the ancient culture of Japan the second week. Each Friday, the children will present a production for parents about the cultures they learned about during the week, he said.

"The production will really emphasize process over product," English said. "They are doing some really cool stuff"

Beverly Johnson, communications coordinator, said the camp was an outgrowth of the 99 Drum program the school hosts in April. She said funding for the camp was made possible through various donations.

"We received money from an anonymous donor," Johnson said. "We also received enough donations so we could give some scholarships to several of the children."

Johnson said the camp costs $250 per week and some children attend both sessions. There is a sibling discount offered for $125.

"Up until now, all of our programs have been funded by outside agencies," Johnson said. "This one is self supporting. That's why we were exceptionally pleased when people stepped up and donated money for scholarships."

English said Accessible Arts is different because it is a camp geared at children with disabilities, but does not mention a disability in its name.

"There are a lot of camps for children with disabilities," English said. "Most children don't want to be identified with their disability. They'd rather be identified with their interests."

Johnson said this camp is perfect for children with disabilities like dyslexia, mobility issues, Down's Syndrome, autism and developmental problems. She said the arts tend to get them to come out of their shell.

"The arts generate a lot of enthusiasm," Johnson said. "Arts gets them moving and attracts attention. It's fun, and those non-disabled children interact as well. Everyone is encouraged to participate."

Johnson said she hopes the program will continue next summer. She said it's all based on how successful the camp is this summer.

"We'd like to have the camp grow and we are certainly committed to doing it one more year."

To enroll for the July 18 through 22 camp, call (913) 281-1133 or go to www.accessiblearts.org


San Antonio Express, Texas
Wednesday, July 13, 2005

Memories inspire visually impaired artists to create

By Nishat Fatima

For her recent birthday bash, Ernestine Ruiz sketched a caricature of a pouty, sixtysomething woman for a lighthearted game of "pin the reading glasses on the old lady."

She spent hours perfecting every crease and strand of hair in the picture, which she captioned "I'm only 40!"

However, once her friends saw the drawing, they refused to use it in the game. They were so impressed by Ruiz's creation that they did not want to risk ruining it by poking holes in it.

This story is one of many that Ruiz, whose severe diabetes has led to partial vision loss, offers as reasons why she took up painting again.

Her works are included in "Art Knows No Boundaries," a Contemporary Art Month exhibit at the San Antonio Lighthouse. The exhibit features art produced by members of the Senior Center at the Lighthouse, a nonprofit organization that assists people with visual impairments.

"I thought it would be a good idea to allow the seniors to produce artwork and, through (the exhibit), show the community what people with visual impairments can do," says Jessica Rose, who works with seniors at the Lighthouse. "People have this idea that you either have sight or you don't. But it's amazing to see how they have produced such wonderful pieces."

These pieces include vivid watercolor landscapes; multimedia hybrids that incorporate paint, fabric and buttons; wire and fabric strung floral arrangements; delicate crochet items; and a patchwork quilt that has motivational words from past and current Lighthouse graduates.

Like many members of the Lighthouse, Ruiz will completely lose her sight in a few years. Initially heartbroken, she said she looked to her faith to cope with her health problems.

"I don't feel discouraged because I feel like God has still given me vision," she says. "I appreciate all that I have seen. The sunset changes the color of everything around you, moonlight makes the water look like glitter. There is so much beauty in God's creation, and I am glad that I was able to share that."

Ruiz's artwork, as well as her words, reflect her upbeat demeanor and devotion. Often humorous, it depicts nature and the memories she treasures.

"Different people, places and great memories of the past - my art takes me there," she says. "My memories help my future. As long as we have our memories, we can go on. They help me accept what is going on. And I feel good."

The artwork means more to the members than wall décor. It is a way to bond with each other and get reassurance through work that is significant to them.

The final products are a reflection of how they see the world. Members find themselves becoming attached to the artwork that they meticulously create; in fact, none of the artwork will be for sale.

"As I contribute, it makes me feel more secure about myself. I hadn't drawn in years, but (Lighthouse friends) help me relax," says Hazel Hodges, who has macular degeneration. "We can't see too well, but they don't worry about it. I have bottles of paint all over my house, but I don't paint as much because I don't get the same assurance. Also, I am my own worst critic."

A nature enthusiast, Hodges' inspiration is simply the presence of scenery.

"I love to draw the outdoors," she says. "Anything that grows is beautiful to me. Symmetrically, everything is beautiful; I even think some weeds are lovely. I can sit and stare at a leaf for hours."

The Lighthouse artists are in good company - arguably the best. Claude Monet's pieces were blurred as a result of his own visual impairment from cataracts; Vincent Van Gough suffered from extreme migraines that affected his vision.

"I tell them to paint the world in the way that they see it, because that's how the pros did it," Rose says.

At first, some members were too bashful to submit art, but after seeing some of the work of their friends, they were amazed and inspired to submit their works.

"So many of them are working hard to finish new projects for the show," Rose says. "No matter, we will find space for it somehow."


"Art Knows No Boundaries" runs through July 28 at the San Antonio Lighthouse Senior Center, 2300 Roosevelt Ave. A closing reception from 9 to 11 a.m. will feature a presentation by well-known visually impaired artist Lisa Fittipaldi, followed by an auction of works donated by local artists including Jason Stout and Kimberly Aubuchon. Proceeds will benefit the center. For information, call (210) 533-5195.




'Blind at the Museum'
Through July 24, Berkeley Art Museum
LIGHTHOUSE FOR THE Blind sponsors an annual juried exhibition of artwork by visually impaired people that calls attention to the manifold senses at play in the enjoyment of art, and challenges common presuppositions about the relationship between sight and blindness in the experience of looking at the world (see "Critic's Choice," 9/8/04). Berkeley Art Museum's "Blind at the Museum" addresses similar issues and features work by some of the same artists as Lighthouse's most recent show in the basement of San Francisco's City Hall, including John Dugdale, Pedro Hidalgo, Michael Le Vell, and Kurt Weston. What nevertheless distinguishes the Berkeley Art Museum show is its inclusion of sighted, deaf, and blind artists, who all are concerned with the role of the senses in the enjoyment of art, the complex relationships between them, and their limits. In Lynx, a photograph from Sophie Calle's series "Les Aveugles (The Blind)," Calle juxtaposes text from an interview with a blind woman about what she experiences as beautiful, with an image of the lynx fur she describes in her answer and a photograph of the woman with her glasses slightly off center and one eye rolled up into her head. The piece calls attention to the roles of thinking, reading, touching, and seeing in the enjoyment of beauty, and to the ways they work together for different people. In excerpts mounted on the wall from his book Postcards to Sophie Calle, deaf artist Joseph Grigely respectfully expresses his adverse response to her series and questions the enjoyment – perhaps implicit in all photography – of looking at those who can't look at us. In Hand Over Dog: Joseph at The Temple of Dendur, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Alice Wingwall presents an off-kilter photograph of the ancient Egyptian ruin, with the nose of her seeing-eye dog in one corner of the image, and her hand reaching out at the bottom of the frame as if in search of her way. The photograph charts a course between the poles of the debate between Calle and Grigely, and provides a potential paradigm for approaching both artwork and other people: Like strangers to a lost culture, we can only draw upon the resources available to us (including the help of others), but should not lose sight of our limitations. Wed. and Fri.-Sun., 11 a.m.-5 p.m.; Thurs., 11 a.m.-7 p.m., 2626 Bancroft, Berk. $4-$8 (free first Thurs.). (510) 642-0808. (Clark Buckner)


Francine Seders For the past several years, local photographer Spike Mafford has been trying to figure out how to bring the aesthetic experience of visual art to both the blind and sighted. The results of his experiments will be on display in a new show, "Braille." Mafford has incorporated tactile elements, including Braille lettering and raised forms, into his printed photos with the goal of discovering how a printed photograph changes after being touched by "viewers." Reception: 2-4 p.m. Sun. July 17. 6701 Greenwood Ave. N., 206-782-0355. 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Tues.- Sat.; 1-5
p.m. Sun.


excerpt from a longer article BSoA show instils hope for the future

"...Equally impressive is the gentle play of light and shade in The Sensory Garden, now tragically under threat from a proposed new hospital.
This unusual garden, designed for the enjoyment of the blind, has an atmosphere in reality all its own,a reality that Giles Campbell catches with notable sensitivity."

excerpt from longer article Just a breath away
"...Japanese choreographer Saburo Teshigawara seems to relish an element of risk. He has created dance works to be performed in the least promising of spaces - an empty power station, a cattle market, a warehouse - and worked for a year with blind dance students. Yet when I meet him in Rome, where he has been performing with his company Karas in a piece called Screams and Whispers, he seems a repository of calm."


The Times Online (UK)
Tuesday, July 12, 2005

Raised Awreness: Art for the blind becomes reality

By Mark Irving

The artist Bill Woodrow tells how his idea has developed into an exhibition

ONE of the most annoying things about art galleries and museums is that you rarely get the chance to touch the works on display. Of course, there is an intellectual argument why this should be so - that art needs to be preserved for generations, not just for a few years - but something in me rebels against it nonetheless. After all, art invites such a full range of sensory responses that it seems churlish to refuse one the right to get right in there, hands, mouths and all.

Now the artist Bill Woodrow and Tate Modern have come up with an exhibition of works specifically designed to be touched. Raised Awareness is 23 drawings which have been produced by a special printing process to enable them to be "read" by visually impaired people.

"A few years ago Caro Howell, who was then working in the special education department at the Tate, gave a talk about the needs of the visually impaired," says Woodrow. "Why, I thought, can't blind people have access to complete and new works of art rather than just being given embossed sheets showing details of existing works?"

The artists were asked to produce drawings in black and white on an A3-sized piece of paper. These drawings were then put through a Minolta photocopying device that picks up on the black or dark areas of the drawing and copies these on to specially prepared paper in an embossed form than can be "read" with the fingertips.

The challenge to the artists - among them Michael Craig-Martin, Richard Deacon, Antony Gormley, Marc Quinn, Lisa Milroy and Damien Hirst - was not inconsiderable. How could they convey a sense of their work and their signature style to individuals whose sensory landscape is mapped out entirely differently from fully sighted people? Their responses have been quite varied. Some, like Charlotte Verity, have produced drawings of great delicacy - a branch of berried fruits, for example, articulated with all the attention to detail that you would expect in a drawing produced for a sighted audience.

Other work - such as Roger Ackling's deliberately crumpled sheet that requires seeing fingers to reconstruct the embossed grid printed on it by travelling up and down its miniature hills and valleys - have been designed not only with the visually impaired audience in mind but also in the hope that they will be stimulated by a tactile adventure that challenges their sense of spatial and textural relationships.

Hirst has submitted two sheets containing an identically sized circle filled with small dots: on one, the dots radiate evenly outwards from the circle's centre. On the other, the circles are organised in a seemingly random fashion, and by comparing them you understand their difference. They are instantly recognisable as Hirst works.

Anish Kapoor, conversely, has produced a scene of raised finger-print-style whorls and plateaus that, while they do not look anything like one of his works, might suggest the mystery of his sculptures.

And some works, such as Thérèse Oulton's beautiful triptych-style drawing, which reminds me somehow of Seurat seen through honey, will tax all but the most dextrous Braille reader.

My favourites are Woodrow's own drawing of a pair of hands holding up a ship in a bottle - "It's a metaphor for the way you can't touch or feel the subject, something I sense sighted people might feel about reading art through touch" - and a sunny drawing of a lone fish in the sea by the late Terry Frost.

Raised Awareness, Tate Modern, Bankside, SE1 (020- 7887 8888) from July 19 to Sept 30


What the heck are all these new yellow bumps on every street corner?
Download this press release as an Adobe PDF document.

New sidewalk ramp tactile cues provide renewed additions to pedestrian safety.

(PRWEB) JULY 7 2005 -- It seems like every time we turn around there’s a new curb ramp with all kinds of yellow, red or white bumps on them. Do they do something? Is this part of that chirping noise we hear at intersections? They weren’t there yesterday, now they’re everywhere…what ARE they?

A frequently asked question among the general public, and one that provides ample room for any number of responses. Jon Julnes of Vanguard ADA Systems helps with some answers; “No, they’re not part of the chirping crosswalks, they’re called detectable warnings and are literally ‘Braille for your feet’, for blind and visually impaired persons telling them ‘STOP, be aware! You’re about to enter a dangerous vehicular way or a grade change’”.

It seems that the ADA back some years ago, through various studies and acceptance of some results from other countries having some success with myriad edge protection from hazardous vehicular ways found that among all known surface textures detectable underfoot, detectable warnings (truncated domes), about as wide as a quarter and twice as tall, spaced in accord with new federal guidelines, gave blind and visually impaired persons a detectable surface that was distinctly unique from all other textures, giving them the same confidence in maneuvering around in the public areas such as sidewalks and crossing areas, as STOP signs and red lights do for people with sight.

Julnes goes on; “For several years the feds did an excellent job debating the correct size, shape and texture of these warnings, and by 2001 everyone had come to a consensus on the what, where and how issue. Because of this, prior to 2001, blind persons didn’t have a STOP sign like sighted people do and by virtue they weren’t privy to the same protection mechanisms that others take for granted every day. That meant many didn’t feel safe, or even mildly comfortable going for a leisurely walk even in their own neighborhood, buying an ice cream cone, going to the park to hear others laughing, or just walking around in a thunderstorm to feel something as simple as the pelt of raindrops on their face. Sighted people take all these things for granted. As a society, we can’t yet give them back their sight, but for very little cost, we can literally change the world for a group that’s growing larger every day”.

What about the cost? This is just another expense that we all have to bear isn’t it? Mr. Julnes continues; “What’s the price we’re collectively willing to pay to give someone born with different abilities the capacity to maneuver safely, or a mentally challenged child who may never be able to anticipate every possible outcome of the simplest decision to cross a street safely because it would overwhelm them, yet now we can tell this same person ‘when you come to an intersection, look for the colored ramp…that’s a safe area to wait for cars to pass by’. For those people it’s a bargain, and now it’s a federal mandate.”

Naturally the argument runs to the obvious; why do blind people need a bright yellow ramp, that’s a little counterintuitive isn’t it?

“At first glance it does seem odd, but keep in mind” says Julnes “these laws were designed to provide protection for blind and visually impaired, those with limited sight as well as no sight at all. Consider that the bulk of accidents between pedestrians and drivers aren’t because the pedestrian made a judgment error either in timing or in fact, but rather, because the driver was on their phone, thinking of a meeting this morning, picking up the kids, or any number of things that we all go through every day and just plain didn’t see the pedestrian. That’s when trouble starts. Anything we can do to make these pedestrian areas and by virtue the pedestrians, blind or otherwise, more visible to everyone, makes the world safer for all”.

We can all live with that.


AXcess News, Los Angeles
Tuesday, July 12, 2005

NASA gives blind students a chance to be rocket scientists

By Armando Duke

July 12, 2005 (AXcess News) Wallops Island VA - Thanks to a partnership with the National Federation of the Blind, NASA is providing twelve blind high school students a chance to experience what its like being a rocket scientist.

The students will be participating in a program called "Rocket On!," a week-long rocket science academy of the NFB Jernigan Institute in Baltimore.

NASA and NFB instructors will present workshops at the Institute on the history of rocketry, basic rocket physics, and basic electronics. In addition, the students will learn basic rocket trajectory planning, build electronic circuits for the sensors they will fly, and practice pad operations for the rocket they will launch July 20 from NASA's Wallops Flight Facility, Wallops Island, Va.

"This is the second year NASA has supported the NFB Rocket On! camp," said Phil Eberspeaker, Chief of the NASA Sounding Rockets Program Office at Wallops. "We are looking forward to challenging these students to showcase their potential as possible future employees of NASA."

"This is an extremely rewarding camp for all those involved -- the students and the NASA employees," Eberspeaker said.

"Through the NFB, these students receive mentoring and guidance from blind adults who demonstrate that blindness need not limit your dreams," said Mark Riccobono, Director of Education for the NFB Jernigan Institute.

"Our programs are built by the blind, thus, they include an imaginative sense of adventure that most people falsely believe is beyond the reach of the blind. Through our partnership with NASA we are demonstrating that blind youth will be an active force in the next generation of leaders," he said.

While at Wallops on July 18 and 19, the students will participate in a launch review with NASA personnel, integrate their experiments with NASA support systems, and conduct a practice countdown.

Reporting for work at 4:30 a.m., July 20, the students will begin the countdown procedures towards a 6 a.m. launch of the 10.5 foot rocket. The launch window is 6 a.m. to 9 a.m. The backup launch day is July 21.

During the countdown, the students will be mentored by members of the NASA launch team. The students will support range safety, project management, radar and telemetry support, web cast, the test director, and the launch activities at the pad and in the blockhouse. One lucky student will be selected to push the launch button.

Through audible signals, the students will be able to determine the readiness of their experiments and the rocket. The student-built electrical circuits will allow them to measure light, temperature, acceleration and pressure during the rocket's flight, which is estimated to reach 6,000 feet.

Later in the day back at the Jernigan Institute, the students will begin analyzing the data collected from the four sensors during the flight. They will present their preliminary results during presentations on July 22 at the Jernigan Institute.

The students are from Arizona, Ohio, New York, Georgia, Texas, Pennsylvania, Washington, Michigan, Colorado and Hawaii.

The launch will be web cast live beginning at 5 a.m. on the Internet at: http://www.wff.nasa.gov/webcast


Fort Worth Star Telegram, Texas
Tuesday, July 12, 2005

A feel for painting: Blind Denton artist uses memory and touch

By Terry Lee Goodrich

DENTON - John Bramblitt's world began to shrink four years ago, when he noticed friends' faces becoming blurrier.

At first he shrugged it off. After all, Bramblitt, now 34, had worn glasses since he was 11. But his eyesight declined to legal blindness -- and worse. Now he barely perceives light and uses a cane to find his way.

But it wasn't until he could no longer see vivid images that he decided to capture them in oil on canvas.

"I got more and more angry because I felt everything was on hold," said Bramblitt, of Denton, a senior English major at the University of North Texas. "I didn't leave the apartment much; I couldn't read. I kept going to school, but I was getting incompletes. "I thought, 'Art isn't going to be another thing I can't do.' "

The blue-eyed man put aside the question of why he became blind -- doctors still don't know -- to concentrate on a different issue: How to create.

Bramblitt found a way, using touch and visual memories, to teach himself to paint. He recently sold his first painting, a portrait of a blues musician, for $650. A solo exhibition of his works will open Monday at the University of North Texas.

Back when he could see, he had sketched idly, then tossed the drawings. But he wanted to try again, this time to fill the void in his life.

First he found a way other than vision to visualize.

On a trip to Mexico with friends about a year ago, the El Paso native was struck by the serenity of a stranger he met. Bramblitt asked an unusual question: Could he explore the man's face with his hands? The stranger said yes.

At a Denton nightclub, Bramblitt asked the same question of Pops Carter, 86, a Denton blues musician whose music he likes. Carter agreed.

"I wasn't doin' nothin'," Carter said. "I was standing right there on break. It didn't tickle."

At home, Bramblitt's fluffy little dog, Ann -- part papillon, part Chihuahua -- was an even easier subject. The image of Ann, 10 years old, was already etched into Bramblitt's memory, and he did not need to ask permission to touch her to refresh it. Besides, Ann held no grudges from the day he fumbled for the remote control and accidentally bopped her with it.

Scrutinies done, it was time for Bramblitt to convey his feelings -- tactile and emotional.

"I painted many paintings in my mind, stroke for stroke, before I ever bought a brush," he said.

Patterns on canvas

Next he experimented to find a substance he could use to make raised outlines, patterns to follow for the impressions tucked into his mind.

Glue took too long to dry; correction fluid seeped into the canvas. But a fast-drying fabric paint works well.

When it comes time to bring an image to life with color, touch helps again. He cannot read labels identifying hues of oil paints, so friends helped at first. Then he began to recognize textures, enabling him to blend colors and paint more rapidly. Black is slicker than white; burnt sienna is like jelly. And aquamarine glides onto the canvas after it has been mixed with white.

"Then I just try to remember how light and shadow were," he said.

He also draws from his past. He started college after graduating from Marcus High School in Flower Mound but took several years off from college because he has a seizure disorder that often left him weak. As he tried various medicines to control the seizures, he worked as an office manager for his father's diesel injection shop in Lewisville.

He resumed college and was awarded a fellowship. He made the dean's list and -- even better -- the president's list for his 4.0 grade-point average before his vision deteriorated.

For the past two years, he has painted rodeos and nudes. Churches and billiard players. Wine bottles and his girlfriend. Even a disturbing self-portrait depicting his frustration at sinking into darkness.

At first he was hesitant to let others see an in-progress image, but now he turns to girlfriend Jacqi Serie -- he calls her "Gorgeous" -- and others for feedback.

"John has definitely evolved into a more receptive artist," said Serie, who has a degree in art photography and is a wedding photographer. The two began dating two years ago, when Bramblitt's sight was virtually gone. He enlarged a photo of her, hoping to see what she looks like, but the image was obscure.

"I admire his ability to capture something realistically, even if he can't see it, but also put his own twist on it," she said. "I'm honest with him if I think something is a little awkward, and he's never gotten upset.

"Sometimes, he's like, 'Well, yeah' and will rework it," Serie said. "Other times he says: 'I like it. I'll leave it.' "

Bramblitt jokes that if he is a terrible painter, at least he will never have to look at his art.

Making connections

But he also does not believe that "bad art" exists.

"Art is expression. Liking one person's art over another doesn't mean that the art is any better or worse," he said. "But I don't like it when people don't feel one way or another. At least, even if they don't like it, they're connecting in some way with the artist."

Bramblitt said he is encouraged by knowing that other artists have wrestled with impaired vision, including them Claude Monet and Edgar Degas.

Some painters turn to other media, such as sculpture, as they begin to lose their sight, said Vickie Collins, vice president of National Exhibits by Blind Artists, a Philadelphia-based nonprofit organization that holds juried exhibits.

Some use extremely bright colors and a large canvas to compensate; many use magnifiers, she said.

And some, like Bramblitt, begin when they no longer see.

Whatever their stories, "our artists want to be able to stand on their own," Collins said.

Bramblitt recently made his first sale, the portrait of bluesman Carter, for $650 to Tim Trawick, owner of the Texas Jive bar and restaurant in Denton, Bramblitt said.

"I'm a big fan of Pops, and John's been in my club a number of times," Trawick said. "I knew John was blind, but I didn't know he was a painter."

Trawick was captivated when he saw Carter's likeness at one of the bar's sporadic art exhibits.

"I thought, 'That's incredible,' " he said. "Then I found out John had done it. That put it over the top -- that he did it from feeling Pops' face and features and that he did it so well."

Carter was equally impressed. A friend gave him a printout of his portrait from Bramblitt's Web site, and Carter hung it on his living-room wall near an autographed photo of B.B. King.

"Boy oh boy. That painting is amazing -- it's me," he said.

Several of Bramblitt's paintings have been chosen by the art faculty and staff for a solo exhibit at the Union Gallery at the University of North Texas, said Carol Wilkinson, manager of the university's Design Works.

One who looks at Bramblitt's art from a clinical standpoint is an optometrist, Stephanie Fleming of Dallas, a specialist in low vision.

She began testing Bramblitt extensively two years ago.

"I'm not an art critic, but I was really appreciative of how realistic things were from his visual memory," she said.

The cause of his blindness remains a mystery, she said.

"Sometimes there's just no answer," Fleming said. "I'm very surprised at how well he's handled it. He's been very upbeat."

Bramblitt has his blue times.

"Eyes are so hard to paint," he said. "Before, people's eyes told so much. That was the first thing I always looked at."

But he is determined his world will not shrink again.

So he taps his way along Denton sidewalks, avoiding sidewalk cracks and sidestepping trash bins that protrude.

He has completed more than a year of mobility training, even navigating his way through downtown Dallas and Six Flags Over Texas in Arlington. He looks forward to getting a guide dog eventually -- a Lab, perhaps, or a boxer -- although Ann will never slip in his affection, he said.

Using a computer program with a scanner and an automated voice, he can read again. His grades have improved, he plans to graduate in May, head on to graduate school, become an English professor -- and paint.

"For a while when I started painting, it was almost as if I was trying to throw my blindness back in God's face," he said. "I feel a lot calmer now, a lot better. It's become like maybe it was God's plan.

"I don't want to stop."

IN THE KNOW

Art exhibit by John Bramblitt

. Monday-Aug. 15

. 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays and Saturdays

. Union Gallery, third level of Union Center, 410 Ave. A, Denton

. Free

. Artist's reception, 3 to 5 p.m. July 23

. www.unt.edu/union/gallery.htm and (940) 565-3829

Terry Lee Goodrich, (817) 685-3812 tgoodrich@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
ONLINE:www.bramblitt.com, National Exhibits by Blind Artists at www.nebaart.org


*A feel for painting*
Blind Denton artist uses memory and touch
By Terry Lee Goodrich
Star-Telegram Staff Writer

DENTON - John Bramblitt's world began to shrink four years ago, when he noticed friends' faces becoming blurrier.
At first he shrugged it off. After all, Bramblitt, now 34, had worn glasses since he was 11. But his eyesight declined to legal blindness -- and worse. Now he barely perceives light and uses a cane to find his way.
But it wasn't until he could no longer see vivid images that he decided to capture them in oil on canvas.
"I got more and more angry because I felt everything was on hold," said Bramblitt, of Denton, a senior English major at the University of North Texas. "I didn't leave the apartment much; I couldn't read. I kept going to school, but I was getting incompletes. "I thought, 'Art isn't going to be another thing I can't do.' "
The blue-eyed man put aside the question of why he became blind -- doctors still don't know -- to concentrate on a different issue: How to create.
Bramblitt found a way, using touch and visual memories, to teach himself to paint. He recently sold his first painting, a portrait of a blues musician, for $650. A solo exhibition of his works will open Monday at the University of North Texas.
Back when he could see, he had sketched idly, then tossed the drawings. But he wanted to try again, this time to fill the void in his life.
First he found a way other than vision to visualize.
On a trip to Mexico with friends about a year ago, the El Paso native was struck by the serenity of a stranger he met. Bramblitt asked an unusual question: Could he explore the man's face with his hands? The stranger said yes.
At a Denton nightclub, Bramblitt asked the same question of Pops Carter, 86, a Denton blues musician whose music he likes. Carter agreed.
"I wasn't doin' nothin'," Carter said. "I was standing right there on break. It didn't tickle."
At home, Bramblitt's fluffy little dog, Ann -- part papillon, part Chihuahua -- was an even easier subject. The image of Ann, 10 years old, was already etched into Bramblitt's memory, and he did not need to ask permission to touch her to refresh it. Besides, Ann held no grudges from the day he fumbled for the remote control and accidentally bopped her with it.
Scrutinies done, it was time for Bramblitt to convey his feelings -- tactile and emotional.
"I painted many paintings in my mind, stroke for stroke, before I ever bought a brush," he said.

*Patterns on canvas*
Next he experimented to find a substance he could use to make raised outlines, patterns to follow for the impressions tucked into his mind.
Glue took too long to dry; correction fluid seeped into the canvas. But a fast-drying fabric paint works well.
When it comes time to bring an image to life with color, touch helps again. He cannot read labels identifying hues of oil paints, so friends helped at first. Then he began to recognize textures, enabling him to blend colors and paint more rapidly. Black is slicker than white; burnt sienna is like jelly. And aquamarine glides onto the canvas after it has been mixed with white.
"Then I just try to remember how light and shadow were," he said.
He also draws from his past. He started college after graduating from Marcus High School in Flower Mound but took several years off from college because he has a seizure disorder that often left him weak. As he tried various medicines to control the seizures, he worked as an office manager for his father's diesel injection shop in Lewisville.
He resumed college and was awarded a fellowship. He made the dean's list and -- even better -- the president's list for his 4.0 grade-point average before his vision deteriorated.
For the past two years, he has painted rodeos and nudes. Churches and billiard players. Wine bottles and his girlfriend. Even a disturbing self-portrait depicting his frustration at sinking into darkness.
At first he was hesitant to let others see an in-progress image, but now he turns to girlfriend Jacqi Serie -- he calls her "Gorgeous" -- and others for feedback.
"John has definitely evolved into a more receptive artist," said Serie, who has a degree in art photography and is a wedding photographer. The two began dating two years ago, when Bramblitt's sight was virtually gone. He enlarged a photo of her, hoping to see what she looks like, but the image was obscure.
"I admire his ability to capture something realistically, even if he can't see it, but also put his own twist on it," she said. "I'm honest with him if I think something is a little awkward, and he's never gotten upset.
"Sometimes, he's like, 'Well, yeah' and will rework it," Serie said. "Other times he says: 'I like it. I'll leave it.' "
Bramblitt jokes that if he is a terrible painter, at least he will never have to look at his art.

*Making connections*
But he also does not believe that "bad art" exists.
"Art is expression. Liking one person's art over another doesn't mean that the art is any better or worse," he said. "But I don't like it when people don't feel one way or another. At least, even if they don't like it, they're connecting in some way with the artist."
Bramblitt said he is encouraged by knowing that other artists have wrestled with impaired vision, including them Claude Monet and Edgar Degas.
Some painters turn to other media, such as sculpture, as they begin to lose their sight, said Vickie Collins, vice president of National Exhibits by Blind Artists, a Philadelphia-based nonprofit organization that holds juried exhibits.
Some use extremely bright colors and a large canvas to compensate; many use magnifiers, she said.
And some, like Bramblitt, begin when they no longer see.
Whatever their stories, "our artists want to be able to stand on their own," Collins said.
Bramblitt recently made his first sale, the portrait of bluesman Carter, for $650 to Tim Trawick, owner of the Texas Jive bar and restaurant in Denton, Bramblitt said.
"I'm a big fan of Pops, and John's been in my club a number of times," Trawick said. "I knew John was blind, but I didn't know he was a painter."
Trawick was captivated when he saw Carter's likeness at one of the bar's sporadic art exhibits.
"I thought, 'That's incredible,' " he said. "Then I found out John had done it. That put it over the top -- that he did it from feeling Pops' face and features and that he did it so well."
Carter was equally impressed. A friend gave him a printout of his portrait from Bramblitt's Web site, and Carter hung it on his living-room wall near an autographed photo of B.B. King.
"Boy oh boy. That painting is amazing -- it's me," he said.
Several of Bramblitt's paintings have been chosen by the art faculty and staff for a solo exhibit at the Union Gallery at the University of North Texas, said Carol Wilkinson, manager of the university's Design Works.
One who looks at Bramblitt's art from a clinical standpoint is an optometrist, Stephanie Fleming of Dallas, a specialist in low vision.
She began testing Bramblitt extensively two years ago.
"I'm not an art critic, but I was really appreciative of how realistic things were from his visual memory," she said.
The cause of his blindness remains a mystery, she said.
"Sometimes there's just no answer," Fleming said. "I'm very surprised at how well he's handled it. He's been very upbeat."
Bramblitt has his blue times.
"Eyes are so hard to paint," he said. "Before, people's eyes told so much. That was the first thing I always looked at."
But he is determined his world will not shrink again.
So he taps his way along Denton sidewalks, avoiding sidewalk cracks and sidestepping trash bins that protrude.
He has completed more than a year of mobility training, even navigating his way through downtown Dallas and Six Flags Over Texas in Arlington. He looks forward to getting a guide dog eventually -- a Lab, perhaps, or a boxer -- although Ann will never slip in his affection, he said.
Using a computer program with a scanner and an automated voice, he can read again. His grades have improved, he plans to graduate in May, head on to graduate school, become an English professor -- and paint.
"For a while when I started painting, it was almost as if I was trying to throw my blindness back in God's face," he said. "I feel a lot calmer now, a lot better. It's become like maybe it was God's plan.
"I don't want to stop."


May 2, 2005
Section: Local State
Page: 01B
*ARTBREAK showcases variety of artistic expression*
Mary Jimenez
Staff
Times=City By Mary Jimenez
maryjimenez@xxxxxxxxxxx

   Small hands carried unique robots, parents wore paper flowers on
   their shirts, children sat at tables blind-folded and felt the color
   of paint, and the rhythmic beat of African drums kept the pulse of
   art flowing.
   An estimated 15,000 students, family and friends of art took a tour
   of the 21st year of ARTBREAK, which ran from Friday through
   Sunday.Work from every Caddo Parish school was represented and 50
   hands-on activities kept festivalgoers busy. The celebration of art
   included music, dance, prose, sculpture and dramatic expression.
   “This was the most well attended ARTBREAK since we moved to the Expo
   Hall,” Pam Atchison, Shreveport Regional Arts Council executive
   director, said. “It was not only a great showcase of art by our
   teachers but also from our community partners and our quest
   artists.”Among the professional artists was painter and English
   major John Bramblitt, a blind student at the University of North
   Texas. His Web site is www.bramblitt.com.
   Bramblitt feels the color of his paints.
   “It’s the same as seeing it with your eyes but you’re feeling it
   with your hands,” said Bramblitt, 33, who started painting
   2-and-a-half years ago, after going blind five years ago.
   “I was angry in the beginning. I love to write and at first before I
   learned how to use the programs that would read back to you, I
   couldn’t read what I wrote. So I painted.”
   Experimentation with different media like Elmer’s glue, which he
   said dries too slow, and White-out (absorbs into the paper) led
   Bramblitt to Slick Paint.
   “It leaves a raised line so I can feel what I’ve drawn,” said the
   33-year-old.
   Then Bramblitt used oil paints, which he found to feel slightly
   different for each color.
   “Black is very slick while white is thick and almost pasty,” he
   said. “So, for example, I know something that feels in between is gray.”
   For ARTBREAK Bramblitt mixed some texture into the watercolor paints
   to give the children an idea of painting by feel. Arial Hunter, 15,
   from Green Oaks High School felt her way through the red, blue,
   yellow and white paint.“The blue was stickier than the white,” she
   said, pulling off her blindfold, slightly amazed that she could tell
   the difference. “It was very neat.”
   Sunday’s activities also included awards broken down by levels and
   age. Cash prizes and savings bonds were awarded to student winners
   in visual art, poetry and prose. Among the Best of Show was Michael
   Kovalsky of Caddo Magnet High for his poetry, “Poetry.”
   The first line of Kovalsky’s poem begins, “Poetry is the sin of our
   passion ...”
   “I actually wrote it when I shouldn’t have been writing it -- on
   scratch paper driving home from school one day,” said the
   11th-grader, who didn’t read poetry until this year. “My English
   teacher Cathy Sledge made us read a lot of different poets this
   year, and I was interested.”
   Kovalsky takes his inspiration from every part of his life.
   “At the end of the day I can take something I heard or felt and turn
   it into a piece of writing,” he said.
   Also receiving top awards were Best of Show in prose Maria Huang of
   Caddo Magnet for “The Other Side of the Pacific.”
   In visual arts, Courtney Mott of C.E. Byrd High won the Bernard J.
   Kallenberg Memorial Purchase Award for her painting, “Migrant Worker.”
   Molly Brau of Caddo Magnet High also won in visual arts. She took
   home the Jimmy Dunn Memorial Portfolio Award for a five piece
   portfolio of work that included two silk portraits, an acrylic and
   “Strawberry Fields” on ceramic tiles.
   Photo Captions:
   Members of the Louisiana Dance Theatre perform Sunday, the final day
   of ARTBREAK.



     Blind artist paints with perfect precision

   Jenna Cairney
   Staff Writer

   January 18, 2005



   In the hallway of the spacious Art Six coffee shop hangs
   "Confliction." It's the first painting on the right wall. The
   painting consists of two faces merging, showing deep struggle and
   strain throughout. A third eye in the center provides a focal point
   and thick guidelines separate areas of precise shadings.

   Stopping to ponder over the painting for a minute, Heidi Lang,
   co-owner and art co-coordinator of Art Six, discussed the work.
   "It's so incredible how he distinctly shades, but in this and some
   of the others, you can see the guidelines," Lang said. "But in
   this," she said, shuffling down the hall to point at the glass
   framed "Cutter," "I just don't know how he did it."

   Compared to "Confliction," "Cutter" is smooth but just as
   well-defined and bold with incredible coloring. She then pointed at
   "Cotton Fields," a sea of dark cotton, delicately shaded and
   lightened. "It's amazing, I have no idea how he did it," she repeated.

   Lang marveled at the work of artist John Bramblitt, Denton senior.
   Bramblitt's signature two circles with crosses scored through them
   is autographed on each of his works and, in its own right, merits
   the display. Bramblitt is legally blind and paints entirely by
   touch. On Sunday afternoon, Bramblitt explained how he began painting.

   "I've drawn all my life and I always wanted to paint, but I didn't
   start until I lost my eyesight," he said. Bramblitt suffers from
   seizures and it was the re-occurrence of these seizures that slowly
   led to the loss of his vision.

   "It's hard to say exactly when I lost my eyesight. My vision was
   worsening for a long time and I just didn't realize it. I was
   legally blind and I thought it was just normal not to see much."
   After attending a series of classes to help him adjust to his
   condition, Bramblitt began to explore his artistic options. "I
   didn't think I'd be any good at painting but I thought 'What's the
   harm in trying?' and so I started anyway," Bramblitt said. "It was a
   whole lot of fun, I really liked it so I just kept painting and I've
   been doing it ever since."

   After visiting Art Six on a number of occasions, Bramblitt mentioned
   his paintings to Lang. "He stumbled in and knocked one of the bulbs
   off the Christmas tree," Lang said, laughing. "And he came in a few
   more times, until one day he said he had some paintings and I
   thought 'awesome' and told him to let me see them. They are all
   titled very obvious things and I was a little concerned they were
   going to be totally abstract but they were very realistic,
   recognizable images." Bramblitt's pieces will soon be on sale.

   "He came in the next day and I said 'OK John, let's sit down and
   discuss a contract.'" In the corner of Art Six, Bramblitt's portrait
   of familiar Denton face, Pops Carter hangs proudly. The painting is
   thick and textured and the shading is separated by what looks like
   pieces of a jigsaw. "I probably like Pops the best," Bramblitt said.

   "I met him firstly at Moe's, got talking to him and his crazy dogs,
   and saw him again at Cool Beans. He let me feel his face, which was
   really nice of him and he was just really patient." Bramblitt paints
   by touch and, by using Puffy Paint to draw shapes, he can create the
   guidelines for his shading.

   "It's like painting sort of colors the world," he said. "If I touch
   a person's arm and it's sort of silky then in my mind I'll see red.
   I know it's not red. It's not real but it's different."

   Bramblitt does have plans for other shows, such as a solo show in
   the University Union this summer and a display in the Marshall
   Visual Arts Center in Marshall.

   "The really cool thing about the show in Marshall is that they are
   working on a way to maybe start an art workshop for blind kids and
   maybe get the parents into it," he said. "I think dealing with
   things like that is as hard for the parents as it is the kids, but I
   think if the parents had something like that, and they could see the
   kids actually doing something, then it would be a real winner."

   Bramblitt's paintings will be displayed until Jan. 22, after which
   they will go on sale.









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