WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.114 --> 00:00:02.614 (light music) 2 00:00:04.020 --> 00:00:06.150 Welcome to "Hadley Presents." 3 00:00:06.150 --> 00:00:09.690 I'm your host, Ricky Enger, inviting you to sit back, 4 00:00:09.690 --> 00:00:13.620 relax, and enjoy a conversation with the experts. 5 00:00:13.620 --> 00:00:17.010 In this episode, artist John Bramblitt joins us 6 00:00:17.010 --> 00:00:18.210 to share his story. 7 00:00:18.210 --> 00:00:19.740 Welcome to the show, John. 8 00:00:19.740 --> 00:00:21.210 Thank you so much for having me. 9 00:00:21.210 --> 00:00:22.950 I've been looking forward to this. 10 00:00:22.950 --> 00:00:25.590 Yes, me too. I've been really, really excited. 11 00:00:25.590 --> 00:00:28.080 It's so great to have you on the show, 12 00:00:28.080 --> 00:00:32.580 and you have this incredible list of accomplishments. 13 00:00:32.580 --> 00:00:33.690 It's really impressive. 14 00:00:33.690 --> 00:00:36.150 You know, you've gotten Presidential Service Awards. 15 00:00:36.150 --> 00:00:37.230 You've written a book 16 00:00:37.230 --> 00:00:39.510 and all sorts of really, really cool stuff. 17 00:00:39.510 --> 00:00:43.500 But, you know, I always think it's more fascinating to, 18 00:00:43.500 --> 00:00:47.130 rather than do this big introduction myself, 19 00:00:47.130 --> 00:00:50.700 just to see what people like to highlight about themselves 20 00:00:50.700 --> 00:00:52.170 when they introduce themselves. 21 00:00:52.170 --> 00:00:53.940 So why don't you just tell us a little bit 22 00:00:53.940 --> 00:00:55.260 about who you are? 23 00:00:55.260 --> 00:00:57.150 I'm an artist and I'm a father, 24 00:00:57.150 --> 00:00:59.670 and I'm a husband, and I'm totally blown away 25 00:00:59.670 --> 00:01:02.280 about how life can go completely different 26 00:01:02.280 --> 00:01:04.230 than how you would ever plan. (chuckles) 27 00:01:04.230 --> 00:01:05.063 Oh my goodness. 28 00:01:05.063 --> 00:01:07.080 I lost my eyesight when I was in college, 29 00:01:07.080 --> 00:01:10.620 and I was fortunate because I had done art all my life. 30 00:01:10.620 --> 00:01:14.070 Like I had drawn, I think I could draw before I could walk, 31 00:01:14.070 --> 00:01:16.260 and, you know, in art was a way for me to deal 32 00:01:16.260 --> 00:01:17.670 with bad times and good times. 33 00:01:17.670 --> 00:01:19.410 And I was sick a lot as a child. 34 00:01:19.410 --> 00:01:22.620 So, art was just my way of dealing with that. 35 00:01:22.620 --> 00:01:24.240 And then whenever I lost my eyesight, 36 00:01:24.240 --> 00:01:25.350 I thought art was gone. 37 00:01:25.350 --> 00:01:28.710 You know, it left me forever, but life is so strange. 38 00:01:28.710 --> 00:01:30.720 It just, you know, it comes back and you just, 39 00:01:30.720 --> 00:01:32.490 you know, it's hard to make long-term plans. (chuckles) 40 00:01:32.490 --> 00:01:34.080 You just never know what life's going to give you 41 00:01:34.080 --> 00:01:35.940 but it's better I think to stick it, 42 00:01:35.940 --> 00:01:38.266 to call some audibles and roll with it. (laughs) 43 00:01:38.266 --> 00:01:39.720 You got that right. 44 00:01:39.720 --> 00:01:44.310 So, you mentioned that you could draw before you could walk, 45 00:01:44.310 --> 00:01:46.260 that was like your thing is drawing. 46 00:01:46.260 --> 00:01:49.230 And then when you lost your vision, 47 00:01:49.230 --> 00:01:50.790 you switched to painting. 48 00:01:50.790 --> 00:01:55.020 So, can you talk about like what made painting appeal 49 00:01:55.020 --> 00:01:57.990 to you more so than drawing after you lost your vision? 50 00:01:57.990 --> 00:02:00.240 Or what was the transition like? 51 00:02:00.240 --> 00:02:02.550 Whenever I started this, it was in 2001, 52 00:02:02.550 --> 00:02:04.950 and there weren't really blind painters out there. 53 00:02:04.950 --> 00:02:07.650 So, first off, I thought I was out of my mind. 54 00:02:07.650 --> 00:02:09.387 I thought I had lost my mind. 55 00:02:09.387 --> 00:02:11.280 You know, because I was a blind person, 56 00:02:11.280 --> 00:02:12.390 I was learning how to use a cane. 57 00:02:12.390 --> 00:02:14.190 I was going to classes at school, 58 00:02:14.190 --> 00:02:17.490 but I would've to have someone guide me to the classes. 59 00:02:17.490 --> 00:02:18.630 And, you know, in the idea that, 60 00:02:18.630 --> 00:02:21.090 you know, there were no books, there were no classes 61 00:02:21.090 --> 00:02:23.610 or anything on how to paint for a visually impaired person. 62 00:02:23.610 --> 00:02:26.400 And I didn't know of any other blind painters. 63 00:02:26.400 --> 00:02:28.410 I was pretty sure that whenever I let people know 64 00:02:28.410 --> 00:02:30.540 that I was starting to paint that they would come after me 65 00:02:30.540 --> 00:02:32.287 with a butterfly net or something, you know, they thought, 66 00:02:32.287 --> 00:02:34.770 "Oh, John's finally lost it now..." 67 00:02:34.770 --> 00:02:36.660 But, so I didn't really tell anybody, 68 00:02:36.660 --> 00:02:37.620 it's was my little secret. 69 00:02:37.620 --> 00:02:39.990 But the wonderful thing about paint though 70 00:02:39.990 --> 00:02:41.640 is that you can touch and feel it. 71 00:02:41.640 --> 00:02:44.550 And I'd always been such a visual person, 72 00:02:44.550 --> 00:02:47.010 you know, I can look at something and I could draw it, 73 00:02:47.010 --> 00:02:50.040 either with paint though, you can actually feel the lines 74 00:02:50.040 --> 00:02:52.890 of the paint and the old way that I used to draw 75 00:02:52.890 --> 00:02:56.250 with charcoal, and pencils, and pens and things, 76 00:02:56.250 --> 00:02:58.980 that was wonderful but you couldn't feel the lines anymore. 77 00:02:58.980 --> 00:03:02.250 So, I started experimenting with paint, 78 00:03:02.250 --> 00:03:04.350 mixing different mediums in with the paint. 79 00:03:04.350 --> 00:03:06.870 So that I could draw lines that were actually raised up 80 00:03:06.870 --> 00:03:09.570 from the canvas so that I could touch and feel them. 81 00:03:09.570 --> 00:03:12.600 And you know, one of the things that starts happening 82 00:03:12.600 --> 00:03:15.690 whenever you lose your eyesight, is that you start learning 83 00:03:15.690 --> 00:03:18.120 how to use your other senses to replace the work 84 00:03:18.120 --> 00:03:19.230 that your eyes used to do. 85 00:03:19.230 --> 00:03:22.860 And a big one for me, were my hands, you know, 86 00:03:22.860 --> 00:03:25.530 and even like with a white cane or a guide dog, 87 00:03:25.530 --> 00:03:27.240 like, I have a guide dog named Eagle 88 00:03:27.240 --> 00:03:29.856 that's asleep right now down by my feet. 89 00:03:29.856 --> 00:03:32.280 (chuckles) But the way that you use, you know a guide dog 90 00:03:32.280 --> 00:03:35.280 or a white cane is through your sense of touch, 91 00:03:35.280 --> 00:03:38.010 and there's different ways to be able to use your touch 92 00:03:38.010 --> 00:03:40.440 to know where you are, to orient yourself, you know, 93 00:03:40.440 --> 00:03:42.330 to know like where the door is, where a couch is, 94 00:03:42.330 --> 00:03:44.850 where the curve is, and be able to navigate, 95 00:03:44.850 --> 00:03:46.860 you know, a room, a city. 96 00:03:46.860 --> 00:03:49.507 But I started learning this and I thought, 97 00:03:49.507 --> 00:03:51.510 "Good grief, if I can use my sense of touch 98 00:03:51.510 --> 00:03:55.590 to be able to leave my apartment and find the campus, 99 00:03:55.590 --> 00:03:56.850 surely, I would be able to find my way 100 00:03:56.850 --> 00:03:59.610 across a canvas again." 101 00:03:59.610 --> 00:04:02.520 And during this time, you know, I'd always used art 102 00:04:02.520 --> 00:04:06.000 to be able to deal with bad feelings. 103 00:04:06.000 --> 00:04:08.070 You know, growing up, I had kidney problems. 104 00:04:08.070 --> 00:04:09.973 I had to have a kidney removed by the time I was seven. 105 00:04:09.973 --> 00:04:13.290 I had a severe epilepsy that just got worse 106 00:04:13.290 --> 00:04:15.210 and had some neurological problems 107 00:04:15.210 --> 00:04:17.760 and ended up getting white Lyme disease. 108 00:04:17.760 --> 00:04:19.320 And I was just in and out of hospitals 109 00:04:19.320 --> 00:04:20.760 all throughout my childhood, 110 00:04:20.760 --> 00:04:23.820 but I don't know, I never felt disabled. 111 00:04:23.820 --> 00:04:25.797 I never felt different or anything. 112 00:04:25.797 --> 00:04:27.480 And a big part of that was my family. 113 00:04:27.480 --> 00:04:29.130 But the other part was art. 114 00:04:29.130 --> 00:04:30.750 'Cause, you know, if I had a bad day, 115 00:04:30.750 --> 00:04:32.433 art made that day better, 116 00:04:32.433 --> 00:04:35.880 that a good day, art was a great way to celebrate that day. 117 00:04:35.880 --> 00:04:37.530 And that worked all the way up until college 118 00:04:37.530 --> 00:04:39.150 until I lost my eyesight. 119 00:04:39.150 --> 00:04:41.550 And I thought that I couldn't have art anymore. 120 00:04:41.550 --> 00:04:42.780 But then when I started learning 121 00:04:42.780 --> 00:04:46.620 how to use my sense of touch to replace what my eyes did. 122 00:04:46.620 --> 00:04:48.960 It was just, you know, I don't want to say 123 00:04:48.960 --> 00:04:50.927 that it was like a dramatic sort of thing, like, "Uh-huh," 124 00:04:50.927 --> 00:04:53.610 'cause it wasn't really that it sort of snuck in. 125 00:04:53.610 --> 00:04:54.443 It was really slow. 126 00:04:54.443 --> 00:04:57.660 It took a long time to learn how to draw again. 127 00:04:57.660 --> 00:04:59.310 But I started getting hope back in my life. 128 00:04:59.310 --> 00:05:02.550 I was so depressed, and I was incredibly angry. 129 00:05:02.550 --> 00:05:05.610 I didn't even realize how angry and depressed I was, 130 00:05:05.610 --> 00:05:07.140 but, you know, it was just what it was more 131 00:05:07.140 --> 00:05:07.973 than I'd ever been. 132 00:05:07.973 --> 00:05:10.320 I never experienced that much anger, depression. 133 00:05:10.320 --> 00:05:12.900 And on the surface, I don't think I really seem that angry. 134 00:05:12.900 --> 00:05:14.940 You know, my family, my friends, 135 00:05:14.940 --> 00:05:16.530 everybody thought I was adjusting really well. 136 00:05:16.530 --> 00:05:17.490 You know, I was learning braille, 137 00:05:17.490 --> 00:05:19.620 I was learning screen readers, how to use computers. 138 00:05:19.620 --> 00:05:21.150 Sewing on buttons without sticking yourself 139 00:05:21.150 --> 00:05:23.490 with a needle too many times, (laughs) 140 00:05:23.490 --> 00:05:25.890 you know, how to eat food without getting it all over you 141 00:05:25.890 --> 00:05:27.000 and how to cook food. 142 00:05:27.000 --> 00:05:29.100 Oh my goodness. I loved to cook. 143 00:05:29.100 --> 00:05:30.750 But I had no idea as a sighted person, 144 00:05:30.750 --> 00:05:33.030 how many sharp, pointy hot things there were 145 00:05:33.030 --> 00:05:33.987 in the kitchen, you know? 146 00:05:33.987 --> 00:05:37.083 So, you're learning how to redo everything in your life. 147 00:05:38.246 --> 00:05:41.070 And also, I was an English major at school at the time, 148 00:05:41.070 --> 00:05:42.930 and I was functionally illiterate then, 149 00:05:42.930 --> 00:05:44.790 you know, because I couldn't see the paper 150 00:05:44.790 --> 00:05:45.870 and I couldn't see to write. 151 00:05:45.870 --> 00:05:48.895 So, I had to relearn how to do all that. 152 00:05:48.895 --> 00:05:50.940 And I was just angry. Oh my goodness. 153 00:05:50.940 --> 00:05:51.773 I would imagine, I mean, 154 00:05:51.773 --> 00:05:52.606 there's a lot going on there 155 00:05:54.000 --> 00:05:58.740 and for the main outlet that you usually had 156 00:05:58.740 --> 00:06:01.350 to take out or let out those feelings 157 00:06:01.350 --> 00:06:05.370 and express those feelings, was initially you didn't have 158 00:06:05.370 --> 00:06:09.150 that anymore because it was such a visual thing, right? 159 00:06:09.150 --> 00:06:14.010 So, there was a lot for you to learn and to go through 160 00:06:14.010 --> 00:06:16.380 at the same time as you were learning 161 00:06:16.380 --> 00:06:20.220 just to live daily life. 162 00:06:20.220 --> 00:06:24.390 Were there things that you learned something 163 00:06:24.390 --> 00:06:26.340 kind of in a daily living sort of way, 164 00:06:26.340 --> 00:06:29.880 and then that transmitted itself to a way 165 00:06:29.880 --> 00:06:32.370 that you handled getting art onto the canvas? 166 00:06:32.370 --> 00:06:37.370 Or maybe vice versa, maybe you had a canvas technique 167 00:06:37.740 --> 00:06:39.420 and you're like, "Oh, I could use that 168 00:06:39.420 --> 00:06:42.060 to identify other stuff in my house as well." 169 00:06:42.060 --> 00:06:44.640 You know, I did have an aha moment. 170 00:06:44.640 --> 00:06:46.610 It had been about a year since I lost the last bit 171 00:06:46.610 --> 00:06:50.040 of my vision and I was still a student at the university, 172 00:06:50.040 --> 00:06:51.870 but I had finally learned how to use a white cane 173 00:06:51.870 --> 00:06:53.160 and travel independently. 174 00:06:53.160 --> 00:06:54.930 You know, I could leave my apartment 175 00:06:54.930 --> 00:06:56.760 and I didn't need to have a sighted guide anymore. 176 00:06:56.760 --> 00:07:00.180 I could just do it by myself. And I wasn't that good at it. 177 00:07:00.180 --> 00:07:01.680 I was still kind of break out in a cold sweat 178 00:07:01.680 --> 00:07:02.850 every time I crossed the street 179 00:07:02.850 --> 00:07:05.190 'cause you're listening for engine sounds 180 00:07:05.190 --> 00:07:07.020 and trying to listen if the car's going left or right, 181 00:07:07.020 --> 00:07:09.870 all this weird stuff that I wasn't used to then, 182 00:07:09.870 --> 00:07:12.750 but I was walking down the street and I was using my cane 183 00:07:12.750 --> 00:07:14.220 to feel the sidewalk. 184 00:07:14.220 --> 00:07:16.050 And with the cane, you can feel the smoothness 185 00:07:16.050 --> 00:07:17.640 and roughness of the concrete. 186 00:07:17.640 --> 00:07:19.620 You can feel the cracks in the concrete. 187 00:07:19.620 --> 00:07:20.970 You can feel the grass on the side 188 00:07:20.970 --> 00:07:23.520 or anything that's a little bit different. 189 00:07:23.520 --> 00:07:25.260 And then when you come across a fire hydrant 190 00:07:25.260 --> 00:07:28.170 or a tree, then that's a big marker, you know, 191 00:07:28.170 --> 00:07:31.470 because there's only one place that particular tree is. 192 00:07:31.470 --> 00:07:33.390 Or when you come to a cross streets, 193 00:07:33.390 --> 00:07:34.950 there's only one place in the whole city 194 00:07:34.950 --> 00:07:36.660 that those two streets cross. 195 00:07:36.660 --> 00:07:38.880 So, when you hit that, you know exactly where you are 196 00:07:38.880 --> 00:07:41.460 in the entire city and you're doing it through touch. 197 00:07:41.460 --> 00:07:43.200 Now, you're holding onto the cane, 198 00:07:43.200 --> 00:07:45.360 but the cane is just like an extension of your fingers. 199 00:07:45.360 --> 00:07:47.010 So, you're just feeling around, 200 00:07:47.010 --> 00:07:49.560 and use these different techniques to do it. 201 00:07:49.560 --> 00:07:51.990 And I happened to think while I was walking one day, 202 00:07:51.990 --> 00:07:54.480 you know, I thought, "Well, this curve is just like a line 203 00:07:54.480 --> 00:07:56.070 running down through the city 204 00:07:56.070 --> 00:07:58.770 and it's just hitting another line that's crossing it, 205 00:07:58.770 --> 00:08:00.240 you know, another curve." 206 00:08:00.240 --> 00:08:01.320 Now, I thought, "Well, my goodness 207 00:08:01.320 --> 00:08:03.300 if I can touch these curves 208 00:08:03.300 --> 00:08:06.030 and walk through this 3D sort of environment," 209 00:08:06.030 --> 00:08:07.620 you know, where there's people, there's cars, 210 00:08:07.620 --> 00:08:09.720 there's motorcycles, all this stuff going on. 211 00:08:09.720 --> 00:08:12.540 Surely, I could reproduce this on a canvas 212 00:08:12.540 --> 00:08:15.354 and a much simpler way where there's no people or cars 213 00:08:15.354 --> 00:08:17.354 (laughs) or motorcycles whizzing by. 214 00:08:17.354 --> 00:08:20.040 And so that was sort of an aha moment for that. 215 00:08:20.040 --> 00:08:22.040 And then it's funny, like, the more that 216 00:08:23.490 --> 00:08:26.280 because I use what are called orientation 217 00:08:26.280 --> 00:08:28.500 and mobility techniques and my painting, 218 00:08:28.500 --> 00:08:31.080 that's the techniques you use for with a white cane 219 00:08:31.080 --> 00:08:32.940 and with a guide dog. 220 00:08:32.940 --> 00:08:34.680 Since I use those with my painting, 221 00:08:34.680 --> 00:08:36.990 it means that whenever I'm walking around 222 00:08:36.990 --> 00:08:39.480 or whatever I'm eating, or anything that I'm using, 223 00:08:39.480 --> 00:08:42.450 I'm needing to use my sense of touch to orient myself. 224 00:08:42.450 --> 00:08:44.280 It explodes. It's so much better. 225 00:08:44.280 --> 00:08:46.590 The more I paint, the easier it is for me 226 00:08:46.590 --> 00:08:48.840 to get around in the actual world. 227 00:08:48.840 --> 00:08:49.890 And the more that I get around 228 00:08:49.890 --> 00:08:52.770 in the actual world, the more it helps my painting. 229 00:08:52.770 --> 00:08:56.160 And this is something that we've started teaching children 230 00:08:56.160 --> 00:08:58.260 in schools for the blind all over the country. 231 00:08:58.260 --> 00:09:01.350 And actually the US is sending us outside of the country 232 00:09:01.350 --> 00:09:02.430 to go to other places. 233 00:09:02.430 --> 00:09:04.830 And it's incredible because these children 234 00:09:04.830 --> 00:09:06.840 will learn how to paint. 235 00:09:06.840 --> 00:09:08.250 You know, this is first time in history, 236 00:09:08.250 --> 00:09:10.320 you have non-visual, visual artists. 237 00:09:10.320 --> 00:09:12.570 You have children who are visually impaired 238 00:09:12.570 --> 00:09:13.830 actually learning how to paint 239 00:09:13.830 --> 00:09:14.970 and it's affecting their life. 240 00:09:14.970 --> 00:09:16.740 It's making it where they can get up from their chair. 241 00:09:16.740 --> 00:09:18.960 They can walk around the room, they can do, 242 00:09:18.960 --> 00:09:20.790 you know, whatever they want, 243 00:09:20.790 --> 00:09:22.650 and they can do it independently. 244 00:09:22.650 --> 00:09:23.820 And it's all because of art. 245 00:09:23.820 --> 00:09:24.780 And I'm such a nerd. 246 00:09:24.780 --> 00:09:26.940 I'm such a fan of art that it just, 247 00:09:26.940 --> 00:09:28.560 every time I think about that, 248 00:09:28.560 --> 00:09:30.270 it just gives me a warm feeling. 249 00:09:30.270 --> 00:09:32.190 It's such an amazing connection 250 00:09:32.190 --> 00:09:35.700 and one that doesn't immediately seem obvious, 251 00:09:35.700 --> 00:09:38.100 but when you point it out, it certainly is 252 00:09:38.100 --> 00:09:42.540 that if you're orienting yourself in space 253 00:09:42.540 --> 00:09:46.140 within the world, or if you're using those same kind 254 00:09:46.140 --> 00:09:49.740 of spatial techniques to orient yourself on the paper, 255 00:09:49.740 --> 00:09:52.050 now you're starting to think about things 256 00:09:52.050 --> 00:09:53.700 in relation to other things, 257 00:09:53.700 --> 00:09:56.190 and this beautiful connection is born. 258 00:09:56.190 --> 00:09:57.930 That's really, really cool. 259 00:09:57.930 --> 00:10:00.720 It does make sense when you say it like that. 260 00:10:00.720 --> 00:10:02.220 I wish I could say I was so smart 261 00:10:02.220 --> 00:10:04.530 that I knew that would happen. 262 00:10:04.530 --> 00:10:07.410 But I just thought I was crazy just doing some weird stuff, 263 00:10:07.410 --> 00:10:10.050 you know, but life is kind of wonderful in a way 264 00:10:10.050 --> 00:10:11.820 because it gave me what I needed, 265 00:10:11.820 --> 00:10:14.160 you know, to be able to heal and feel better. 266 00:10:14.160 --> 00:10:18.180 Can you talk about the techniques that you use 267 00:10:18.180 --> 00:10:20.250 'cause you've kind of touched on this a little bit, 268 00:10:20.250 --> 00:10:23.910 in that you are using your sense of touch 269 00:10:23.910 --> 00:10:26.640 to determine what you've painted. 270 00:10:26.640 --> 00:10:30.780 Can you talk a little about, I know that you mix colors 271 00:10:30.780 --> 00:10:33.630 in certain ways and you do a few other things 272 00:10:33.630 --> 00:10:38.490 just to enhance that tactile experience as your painting? 273 00:10:38.490 --> 00:10:41.370 So how do you do that as a non-visual person? 274 00:10:41.370 --> 00:10:43.860 And one thing a lot of people say when they look 275 00:10:43.860 --> 00:10:46.740 at your paintings, "Oh, they're so vibrant and colorful." 276 00:10:46.740 --> 00:10:49.020 So just talk about how you do that. 277 00:10:49.020 --> 00:10:49.853 And I'll preface this saying that, 278 00:10:49.853 --> 00:10:50.686 whenever you hear about 279 00:10:52.140 --> 00:10:53.977 how I do it a lot of times people think, 280 00:10:53.977 --> 00:10:56.010 "Oh, that sounds like, it's hard to do, 281 00:10:56.010 --> 00:10:57.390 or it's difficult." 282 00:10:57.390 --> 00:10:58.500 But one of the things I do, 283 00:10:58.500 --> 00:11:00.330 I work with museums all over the country. 284 00:11:00.330 --> 00:11:02.730 I work with the Metropolitan, Guggenheim, 285 00:11:02.730 --> 00:11:04.380 dozens and dozens of museums. 286 00:11:04.380 --> 00:11:06.927 And I do a workshop where I blindfold people 287 00:11:06.927 --> 00:11:09.090 and I showed them how to paint the way that I paint. 288 00:11:09.090 --> 00:11:11.790 And I do it in about five minutes. 289 00:11:11.790 --> 00:11:14.610 And in about five or 10 minutes, everybody's painting, 290 00:11:14.610 --> 00:11:16.950 and we're doing, like, cartoon sort of characters. 291 00:11:16.950 --> 00:11:18.780 But it's funny though, because at the beginning of it, 292 00:11:18.780 --> 00:11:20.100 people we're like, "Oh my goodness, 293 00:11:20.100 --> 00:11:21.480 I don't think I can do that." 294 00:11:21.480 --> 00:11:23.659 Then they get started in it and they go, "Oh!" 295 00:11:23.659 --> 00:11:24.630 And it it clicks. 296 00:11:24.630 --> 00:11:26.430 But the way that I paint though, 297 00:11:26.430 --> 00:11:29.070 is by using my sense of touch to do the work 298 00:11:29.070 --> 00:11:30.810 that my eyes used to do. 299 00:11:30.810 --> 00:11:33.780 Whenever I draw, I always draw out my paintings first. 300 00:11:33.780 --> 00:11:36.570 And I just use paint that I can touch and feel. 301 00:11:36.570 --> 00:11:38.970 So, a lot of times I even draw on white paint, 302 00:11:38.970 --> 00:11:40.350 on a white canvas. 303 00:11:40.350 --> 00:11:42.660 So, it's hard for people to see it, but I can feel it, 304 00:11:42.660 --> 00:11:44.280 so for me, it's perfect. 305 00:11:44.280 --> 00:11:46.410 It's not going to interfere with the color later on. 306 00:11:46.410 --> 00:11:48.030 But I just have to be able to feel it 307 00:11:48.030 --> 00:11:49.020 and when I first started, 308 00:11:49.020 --> 00:11:51.420 the lines had to be really, really thick, 309 00:11:51.420 --> 00:11:53.820 and I could only draw very big things. (laughs) 310 00:11:53.820 --> 00:11:56.610 So, I couldn't do a lot of detail. 311 00:11:56.610 --> 00:11:59.070 There was no blending of color, there was no shading, 312 00:11:59.070 --> 00:12:00.900 you know, but this is almost like 20 years ago. 313 00:12:00.900 --> 00:12:03.420 So this, you know, was very simplistic. 314 00:12:03.420 --> 00:12:05.880 If you were here with me in my studio right now, 315 00:12:05.880 --> 00:12:07.320 you would look around the studio 316 00:12:07.320 --> 00:12:09.690 and you would see paintings throughout the years. 317 00:12:09.690 --> 00:12:11.640 And they started out very simplistic 318 00:12:11.640 --> 00:12:13.260 with these giant raised lines. 319 00:12:13.260 --> 00:12:15.780 But over time, the lines get smaller and smaller 320 00:12:15.780 --> 00:12:17.400 because it's just like anything, 321 00:12:17.400 --> 00:12:19.513 the more you do it, the better you get at it, you know, 322 00:12:19.513 --> 00:12:22.530 I don't really need these giant thick lines anymore. 323 00:12:22.530 --> 00:12:24.840 But color is the most fun now. 324 00:12:24.840 --> 00:12:26.580 And I thought it was going to be the hardest thing 325 00:12:26.580 --> 00:12:29.580 because how in the world do you pick colors, 326 00:12:29.580 --> 00:12:32.520 and control colors, and mix colors if you can't see them? 327 00:12:32.520 --> 00:12:33.990 I thought that just sounds crazy, 328 00:12:33.990 --> 00:12:35.670 but it's actually really, really easy 329 00:12:35.670 --> 00:12:37.470 and there's several ways to do it. 330 00:12:37.470 --> 00:12:41.040 But the most fun way is by changing the way the color feels. 331 00:12:41.040 --> 00:12:43.110 So, I'll take different mediums 332 00:12:43.110 --> 00:12:45.060 and mix it in with the paint. 333 00:12:45.060 --> 00:12:47.520 So, what a medium is, well, when you have paint, 334 00:12:47.520 --> 00:12:50.460 like if you break paint down to the very basics, 335 00:12:50.460 --> 00:12:52.260 you have the color, and then you have the stuff 336 00:12:52.260 --> 00:12:54.270 that holds the color together, which is like the medium, 337 00:12:54.270 --> 00:12:55.740 it's a sticky stuff. 338 00:12:55.740 --> 00:12:57.810 But you can actually change that sticky stuff. 339 00:12:57.810 --> 00:13:00.630 You can change the medium, you can make it looser, 340 00:13:00.630 --> 00:13:02.460 you can make it runny, you can make it feel like water 341 00:13:02.460 --> 00:13:04.710 or like satin, you can make it really thick 342 00:13:04.710 --> 00:13:07.590 where it's like putty or even so, so hard and thick 343 00:13:07.590 --> 00:13:09.870 that it's almost like stone, you've got a carving. 344 00:13:09.870 --> 00:13:13.080 So, you've got this wonderful range of different textures 345 00:13:13.080 --> 00:13:14.370 that you can use. 346 00:13:14.370 --> 00:13:17.130 So, I can mix a medium into my white 347 00:13:17.130 --> 00:13:18.660 to make it really thick and gummy, 348 00:13:18.660 --> 00:13:20.760 where it feels almost like toothpaste. 349 00:13:20.760 --> 00:13:23.040 So yeah, I've got this very, very thick white 350 00:13:23.040 --> 00:13:25.500 that I can mix a different medium and with my black 351 00:13:25.500 --> 00:13:26.910 and make it feel like oil. 352 00:13:26.910 --> 00:13:29.610 So, it's really runny and it's really oily feeling. 353 00:13:29.610 --> 00:13:31.680 And because I have these two colors on my palette 354 00:13:31.680 --> 00:13:34.440 that are so different, if I touch the thick paint, 355 00:13:34.440 --> 00:13:35.940 I know it's gotta be white. 356 00:13:35.940 --> 00:13:37.230 There's no way it's black, you know, 357 00:13:37.230 --> 00:13:39.960 so, it makes it really easy to know which color is which. 358 00:13:39.960 --> 00:13:43.290 But if I want to mix the colors, it also helps with that. 359 00:13:43.290 --> 00:13:46.200 Because if I want it gray halfway between the black 360 00:13:46.200 --> 00:13:49.650 and the white, I just mix for the texture, the feel of it, 361 00:13:49.650 --> 00:13:51.510 that's halfway between the way the white feels 362 00:13:51.510 --> 00:13:52.620 and the black feels. 363 00:13:52.620 --> 00:13:54.840 So, you know, it's a little thick, it's a little runny, 364 00:13:54.840 --> 00:13:56.400 but it's right in the middle. 365 00:13:56.400 --> 00:13:58.689 And then the color is also in the middle. 366 00:13:58.689 --> 00:13:59.760 And then I can go from there. 367 00:13:59.760 --> 00:14:02.130 If I want to half lighter than that, then I just go, 368 00:14:02.130 --> 00:14:04.800 you know, I mix it for the half lighter for the texture. 369 00:14:04.800 --> 00:14:08.160 So, and it actually gives you a really, really great way 370 00:14:08.160 --> 00:14:11.040 to be able to control color in a very precise way. 371 00:14:11.040 --> 00:14:15.450 Our hands are fantastic at being able to feel the detail. 372 00:14:15.450 --> 00:14:18.570 We have over 200 touch receptors on the pad of each finger, 373 00:14:18.570 --> 00:14:21.012 and their whole job is just to feel the viscosity of things 374 00:14:21.012 --> 00:14:23.190 (laughs) and how thick and how thin they are. 375 00:14:23.190 --> 00:14:24.870 So, you know, and they're there so that, 376 00:14:24.870 --> 00:14:28.350 you know in life, we can touch things and move things around 377 00:14:28.350 --> 00:14:30.630 without having to look at them all the time. 378 00:14:30.630 --> 00:14:33.180 You know, if you think about it, you actually use this a lot 379 00:14:33.180 --> 00:14:34.110 in your day-to-day life. 380 00:14:34.110 --> 00:14:36.090 Like, if you're driving a car, 381 00:14:36.090 --> 00:14:37.650 you're probably looking out the window, 382 00:14:37.650 --> 00:14:40.050 you know, you're not looking at your hands on the wheel. 383 00:14:40.050 --> 00:14:41.850 If you have a manual, you're not necessarily looking down 384 00:14:41.850 --> 00:14:44.130 every time you shift it, or if you want 385 00:14:44.130 --> 00:14:46.200 to turn the volume up or down, 386 00:14:46.200 --> 00:14:47.640 you don't necessarily look over to the volume. 387 00:14:47.640 --> 00:14:49.350 You can find it with your fingers, you can feel it, 388 00:14:49.350 --> 00:14:51.240 you can feel the buttons that you want to push. 389 00:14:51.240 --> 00:14:55.200 I have a 12-year-old son and he plays PlayStation, 390 00:14:55.200 --> 00:14:56.997 Xbox, all that kind of fun stuff. 391 00:14:56.997 --> 00:14:58.740 And the controllers, "Oh my goodness." 392 00:14:58.740 --> 00:15:00.330 When I was a kid, you've got a controller 393 00:15:00.330 --> 00:15:01.679 that had like two buttons on it, 394 00:15:01.679 --> 00:15:02.610 (laughs) and that was it. 395 00:15:02.610 --> 00:15:03.443 Yes, and now you got the bumpers 396 00:15:03.443 --> 00:15:04.276 and triggers, right? 397 00:15:05.370 --> 00:15:06.930 Covered in things. (laughs) 398 00:15:06.930 --> 00:15:08.340 But he never looks at the controller. 399 00:15:08.340 --> 00:15:10.470 You know, he's off in his own little world, 400 00:15:10.470 --> 00:15:11.303 you know, doing things 401 00:15:11.303 --> 00:15:13.800 and you learn how to be able to do that. 402 00:15:13.800 --> 00:15:15.630 Or if you play a guitar, you know, 403 00:15:15.630 --> 00:15:18.600 at first, you're looking at your fingers, making the chords, 404 00:15:18.600 --> 00:15:20.790 and then after a while, you're not even thinking about it. 405 00:15:20.790 --> 00:15:23.580 We do this all the time with our sense of touch. 406 00:15:23.580 --> 00:15:25.590 I didn't know as a sighted person though, 407 00:15:25.590 --> 00:15:27.360 that you could use your sense of touch 408 00:15:27.360 --> 00:15:29.187 to replace your eyes and a lot of things. 409 00:15:29.187 --> 00:15:31.500 And that came as a big surprise to me. 410 00:15:31.500 --> 00:15:33.780 The more that I do it, the better I get at it. 411 00:15:33.780 --> 00:15:36.060 It does for me now, what it did for me then, 412 00:15:36.060 --> 00:15:37.590 every brush stroke that I make. 413 00:15:37.590 --> 00:15:39.750 I'm not thinking about anything in the past. 414 00:15:39.750 --> 00:15:41.610 I'm not worried about anything that I lost. 415 00:15:41.610 --> 00:15:43.920 I'm also not concerned about anything in the future. 416 00:15:43.920 --> 00:15:46.260 I'm not worried about, you know, I'm only thinking 417 00:15:46.260 --> 00:15:48.450 about the paint on the end of that brush. 418 00:15:48.450 --> 00:15:51.180 So, I'm living in the moment and it's just a wonderful, 419 00:15:51.180 --> 00:15:54.960 wonderful feeling, you know, and I paint eight to 14 hours, 420 00:15:54.960 --> 00:15:56.430 seven days a week. 421 00:15:56.430 --> 00:15:58.290 For me, it's my way of living. 422 00:15:58.290 --> 00:16:01.170 It's my way of saying, and it's my way of expressing myself. 423 00:16:01.170 --> 00:16:03.750 So, you know, it's just been a wonderful gift. 424 00:16:03.750 --> 00:16:04.583 Now, if I understand correctly 425 00:16:04.583 --> 00:16:05.416 when the paint dries, 426 00:16:08.910 --> 00:16:12.420 so once you've painted something and once it dries, 427 00:16:12.420 --> 00:16:16.830 you aren't still able to feel that level of detail 428 00:16:16.830 --> 00:16:19.950 that you have as you're actually creating the painting. 429 00:16:19.950 --> 00:16:20.820 Is that right? 430 00:16:20.820 --> 00:16:21.653 That's true. 431 00:16:21.653 --> 00:16:23.229 Well, and it depends on the painting, 432 00:16:23.229 --> 00:16:24.840 but most of the paintings that I do, one of the things 433 00:16:26.191 --> 00:16:27.960 that I wanted to make sure when I started painting 434 00:16:27.960 --> 00:16:30.630 was that I wanted my paintings to look like anybody 435 00:16:30.630 --> 00:16:33.030 could have done them, you know, so that a sighted person 436 00:16:33.030 --> 00:16:33.863 could have done the painting. 437 00:16:33.863 --> 00:16:36.300 So even though I'm mixing all these mediums in with 'em, 438 00:16:36.300 --> 00:16:38.820 I want it to look like a regular finished painting. 439 00:16:38.820 --> 00:16:40.230 Part of the reason I started painting 440 00:16:40.230 --> 00:16:42.240 was to let people know I'm still in here. 441 00:16:42.240 --> 00:16:45.360 I can still do things, you know, I'm relevant. 442 00:16:45.360 --> 00:16:46.500 Whenever you lose your eyesight, 443 00:16:46.500 --> 00:16:48.630 sometimes you feel a little invisible. 444 00:16:48.630 --> 00:16:49.837 And so, I just wanted to let people know, 445 00:16:49.837 --> 00:16:51.570 "Hey, I'm here. I still understand things." 446 00:16:51.570 --> 00:16:55.770 And it's funny because, you know, when the eyesight's gone, 447 00:16:55.770 --> 00:16:58.950 people don't realize sometimes what you understand. 448 00:16:58.950 --> 00:16:59.783 But, you know, it's funny, 449 00:16:59.783 --> 00:17:01.320 like if your aunt comes in the room 450 00:17:01.320 --> 00:17:03.627 and you've known her your entire life and you know, 451 00:17:03.627 --> 00:17:05.280 and you haven't been blind that long, 452 00:17:05.280 --> 00:17:06.870 but she comes in the room, you can hear talking 453 00:17:06.870 --> 00:17:08.970 to your cousins and the rest of your family. 454 00:17:08.970 --> 00:17:10.447 And then she comes, you know it comes over and says, 455 00:17:10.447 --> 00:17:12.810 "Hi, John, I'm your Aunt Donna." You know? 456 00:17:12.810 --> 00:17:13.643 Right, as if you would suddenly 457 00:17:13.643 --> 00:17:14.476 forget somehow. (laughs) 458 00:17:16.350 --> 00:17:17.183 I lost my eyesight. 459 00:17:17.183 --> 00:17:19.320 I didn't get it in my head, Donna, but thanks so much. 460 00:17:19.320 --> 00:17:21.270 I'm going to give her a big hug. (laughs) 461 00:17:21.270 --> 00:17:22.680 You know, but then on the other hand, 462 00:17:22.680 --> 00:17:24.210 there might be a commercial on TV 463 00:17:24.210 --> 00:17:26.520 and there's like explosions and people running. 464 00:17:26.520 --> 00:17:29.370 And you know, you ask, "What in the heck was that about?" 465 00:17:29.370 --> 00:17:30.510 So, you do miss things, 466 00:17:30.510 --> 00:17:32.520 but I wanted to let people know I was still me in there. 467 00:17:32.520 --> 00:17:34.710 So, whenever the paint does dry, 468 00:17:34.710 --> 00:17:36.780 it feels mostly like any painting 469 00:17:36.780 --> 00:17:38.220 that anybody could have done. 470 00:17:38.220 --> 00:17:40.590 It's when it's wet that it really kind of helps me. 471 00:17:40.590 --> 00:17:42.750 Although there are some paintings where I use a lot 472 00:17:42.750 --> 00:17:45.570 of texture in that remains. 473 00:17:45.570 --> 00:17:47.490 There's some paintings, if I know the people 474 00:17:47.490 --> 00:17:50.640 with visual impairments are going to be seeing the painting, 475 00:17:50.640 --> 00:17:52.230 then I'll make sure to leave raised lines 476 00:17:52.230 --> 00:17:55.170 and I'll try to make it more texturally interesting. 477 00:17:55.170 --> 00:17:56.820 And the new series that I'm working on right now 478 00:17:56.820 --> 00:17:59.100 is some of the most textured stuff I've ever done 479 00:17:59.100 --> 00:18:00.120 in my life. 480 00:18:00.120 --> 00:18:03.240 So that brings up the question for me then 481 00:18:03.240 --> 00:18:06.840 if you're not intentionally adding a lot of texture 482 00:18:06.840 --> 00:18:10.590 to the finished product, and you don't feel the paint 483 00:18:10.590 --> 00:18:13.500 once it's dry, you know, when you're painting, 484 00:18:13.500 --> 00:18:16.770 it's sort of this method of expressing yourself. 485 00:18:16.770 --> 00:18:20.550 And once that's done, has it served its purpose 486 00:18:20.550 --> 00:18:24.990 or are you able to enjoy your work once it's done? 487 00:18:24.990 --> 00:18:27.877 Like, do you talk with somebody else about, 488 00:18:27.877 --> 00:18:30.780 "Hey, describe this painting that I did three years ago. 489 00:18:30.780 --> 00:18:33.780 I want to kind of revisit what that was like." 490 00:18:33.780 --> 00:18:36.297 You know, what's funny, I'm kind of weird in that. 491 00:18:36.297 --> 00:18:39.630 And I remember my paintings really, really, really well. 492 00:18:39.630 --> 00:18:41.160 It is strange that I can't go back 493 00:18:41.160 --> 00:18:42.690 and feel parts of them sometime, 494 00:18:42.690 --> 00:18:44.910 but the little bits that I can feel it's enough 495 00:18:44.910 --> 00:18:46.327 to trigger it and remind me, like, 496 00:18:46.327 --> 00:18:49.140 "Oh, this is this step and that's that step." 497 00:18:49.140 --> 00:18:51.930 But whenever I do a painting, now I have to come up 498 00:18:51.930 --> 00:18:54.660 with different steps that I'm going do it in 499 00:18:54.660 --> 00:18:56.400 because I have to be able to touch it, 500 00:18:56.400 --> 00:18:58.350 you know, to know what I did and to make sure 501 00:18:58.350 --> 00:19:00.210 that I'm where I think I am. 502 00:19:00.210 --> 00:19:02.250 So, at first it was sort of easy. 503 00:19:02.250 --> 00:19:03.360 I had very two dimensional, 504 00:19:03.360 --> 00:19:05.370 like very, like, one-layer paintings, 505 00:19:05.370 --> 00:19:07.590 so, I could do one drawing and that was good 506 00:19:07.590 --> 00:19:08.423 for the painting. 507 00:19:08.423 --> 00:19:11.160 But now though, I may do tons of drawings on a painting, 508 00:19:11.160 --> 00:19:12.057 so I may do a drawing 509 00:19:12.057 --> 00:19:15.090 and then that actually gets covered up with paint. 510 00:19:15.090 --> 00:19:17.460 I may do a wash or a tint on it. 511 00:19:17.460 --> 00:19:19.020 And then, I'll do a different drawing 512 00:19:19.020 --> 00:19:21.180 that that gives me new lines to feel 513 00:19:21.180 --> 00:19:22.770 for the next part of the painting, you know, 514 00:19:22.770 --> 00:19:23.910 and then that might get covered up. 515 00:19:23.910 --> 00:19:25.380 And then I'll do another drawing (laughs) 516 00:19:25.380 --> 00:19:26.430 for the next part of the painting. 517 00:19:26.430 --> 00:19:28.590 And then, so that all gets covered up. 518 00:19:28.590 --> 00:19:30.000 But, you know, for each stage though, 519 00:19:30.000 --> 00:19:31.260 I can feel what I need to feel, 520 00:19:31.260 --> 00:19:32.580 and I've planned it out in my mind. 521 00:19:32.580 --> 00:19:34.830 I know, "Okay, I'm going to do a beach scene, 522 00:19:34.830 --> 00:19:37.260 I'm going to have a couple, and they're very much in love, 523 00:19:37.260 --> 00:19:39.810 and I'm going to base the colors off this music 524 00:19:39.810 --> 00:19:41.517 that these people love over here." 525 00:19:41.517 --> 00:19:43.080 And I have step one through 20 526 00:19:43.080 --> 00:19:44.970 that I want to do to be able to do that. 527 00:19:44.970 --> 00:19:45.803 Do you think that vision loss 528 00:19:45.803 --> 00:19:46.636 has impacted the subjects 529 00:19:50.670 --> 00:19:54.990 of your painting 'cause you do paint a pretty wide variety 530 00:19:54.990 --> 00:19:57.120 of things, but do you think 531 00:19:57.120 --> 00:20:00.930 that you would have been painting different things 532 00:20:00.930 --> 00:20:02.711 if you still had your vision? 533 00:20:02.711 --> 00:20:03.544 I do. I do. 534 00:20:03.544 --> 00:20:07.560 And I think it actually helped my vision in a way. 535 00:20:07.560 --> 00:20:10.320 I know that my drawing changed after losing my eyesight 536 00:20:10.320 --> 00:20:12.300 when I was a sighted artist, 537 00:20:12.300 --> 00:20:16.080 I can do the blueprints for houses, I could do cartoons, 538 00:20:16.080 --> 00:20:18.810 I can do portraits of people. I love to draw. 539 00:20:18.810 --> 00:20:19.830 And you drew every day, 540 00:20:19.830 --> 00:20:22.440 you know, I took every class I could on drawing. 541 00:20:22.440 --> 00:20:24.330 And if I did a portrait of a person 542 00:20:24.330 --> 00:20:26.430 and the portrait actually looked like the person, 543 00:20:26.430 --> 00:20:28.980 like, it was a really good likeness of the person 544 00:20:28.980 --> 00:20:31.170 that I would think, "Oh, that's a good drawing." 545 00:20:31.170 --> 00:20:33.240 After losing my eyesight, I still wanted it 546 00:20:33.240 --> 00:20:36.090 to look like the person, at least with basic lines. 547 00:20:36.090 --> 00:20:38.107 I wanted somebody to be able to look at it and go, 548 00:20:38.107 --> 00:20:40.950 "Oh, that's Tony Hawk," or "Oh, that's my Aunt Sally." 549 00:20:40.950 --> 00:20:44.160 Or, you know, or whoever it became more important 550 00:20:44.160 --> 00:20:46.170 that it felt like the person too though. 551 00:20:46.170 --> 00:20:48.720 I became so interested in perception. 552 00:20:48.720 --> 00:20:51.990 If we had a family member walk into the room right now, 553 00:20:51.990 --> 00:20:54.450 and if we were in a large group of people, 554 00:20:54.450 --> 00:20:55.950 everybody in that group would see 555 00:20:55.950 --> 00:20:58.170 that our family member walk in they would see 556 00:20:58.170 --> 00:21:00.900 what clothes they were wearing, what color their hair was. 557 00:21:00.900 --> 00:21:03.660 Well, you know the hairdo they had on, 558 00:21:03.660 --> 00:21:05.220 how they carry themselves, all of this, 559 00:21:05.220 --> 00:21:07.290 they would all get the same information. 560 00:21:07.290 --> 00:21:09.060 And yet everybody would have a different idea 561 00:21:09.060 --> 00:21:11.160 about what that person might be like. 562 00:21:11.160 --> 00:21:13.230 One person might go like, "Oh, I really like that person, 563 00:21:13.230 --> 00:21:14.877 that seems like somebody I'd want to go talk to you." 564 00:21:14.877 --> 00:21:16.207 And somebody else might think, 565 00:21:16.207 --> 00:21:18.240 "Oh, that's it seems like a really angry person." 566 00:21:18.240 --> 00:21:20.370 It's a perception that's so interesting to me 567 00:21:20.370 --> 00:21:23.220 because, you know, we all get the same information yet. 568 00:21:23.220 --> 00:21:25.677 How we actually view it is different. 569 00:21:25.677 --> 00:21:27.750 And that's, you know, perception just takes place 570 00:21:27.750 --> 00:21:28.583 in the mind. 571 00:21:28.583 --> 00:21:31.050 And I started to realize that more and more. 572 00:21:31.050 --> 00:21:34.680 So, in my paintings, I wanted to pick the way things look, 573 00:21:34.680 --> 00:21:36.870 but I also want to pick the way they feel, 574 00:21:36.870 --> 00:21:38.220 or at least the way they make me feel. 575 00:21:38.220 --> 00:21:40.800 And I think one reason I paint everything 576 00:21:40.800 --> 00:21:44.100 is because painting is my way of seeing the world, 577 00:21:44.100 --> 00:21:46.230 which is where a lot of my friends ended up in my paintings 578 00:21:46.230 --> 00:21:47.520 because I'll feel their faces (laughs) 579 00:21:47.520 --> 00:21:49.350 and I want to see what they look like. 580 00:21:49.350 --> 00:21:51.660 And so, it's a lot of times a friend of mine 581 00:21:51.660 --> 00:21:53.370 and we'll go walk through my house 582 00:21:53.370 --> 00:21:56.070 and then they'll suddenly they'll pause in the hall 583 00:21:56.070 --> 00:21:59.640 because maybe they're next to a rocket ship. 584 00:21:59.640 --> 00:22:03.000 Yeah, they've seen their likeness somewhere. Oh. 585 00:22:03.000 --> 00:22:06.840 But I love to try and envision different things. 586 00:22:06.840 --> 00:22:09.900 I love to travel and I love to get my hands on 587 00:22:09.900 --> 00:22:13.659 as much as I can, and then try to put that into the artwork. 588 00:22:13.659 --> 00:22:14.492 I think that's wonderful. 589 00:22:14.492 --> 00:22:16.920 And I think it shows just based on 590 00:22:16.920 --> 00:22:19.410 when people describe your art, 591 00:22:19.410 --> 00:22:22.710 they always describe it in terms of not only 592 00:22:22.710 --> 00:22:25.050 what it looks like, but the feelings that it evokes. 593 00:22:25.050 --> 00:22:27.810 And I think that's really what art is all about. 594 00:22:27.810 --> 00:22:29.700 Thank you for saying that, by the way then, 595 00:22:29.700 --> 00:22:30.900 that makes me feel good. 596 00:22:30.900 --> 00:22:32.460 All I wanted to do when I started painting 597 00:22:32.460 --> 00:22:33.630 was to connect with people. 598 00:22:33.630 --> 00:22:37.080 And I can't tell you how much of a shock it is 599 00:22:37.080 --> 00:22:39.120 that I've actually connected with people. 600 00:22:39.120 --> 00:22:40.320 It's just a wonderful shock. 601 00:22:40.320 --> 00:22:43.140 It's just huge, I mean, there's not a day that goes by 602 00:22:43.140 --> 00:22:45.960 that I don't walk into my studio and just think how, 603 00:22:45.960 --> 00:22:47.970 what a lucky person I am. 604 00:22:47.970 --> 00:22:49.620 You know, and I started out with it, 605 00:22:49.620 --> 00:22:53.100 as an epileptic and was blind and was felt completely alone 606 00:22:53.100 --> 00:22:57.630 and isolated, to now where I'm an epileptic, who's blind, 607 00:22:57.630 --> 00:23:00.270 and I'm happier than I've ever been in my life. 608 00:23:00.270 --> 00:23:01.103 That's incredible. I just have one 609 00:23:01.103 --> 00:23:01.936 last question for you. 610 00:23:04.920 --> 00:23:09.000 I have to say, I love the phrase, non-visual, visual artist. 611 00:23:09.000 --> 00:23:12.840 The thing about it, is though, when you hear visual art, 612 00:23:12.840 --> 00:23:17.340 it kind of sounds like vision, sight is a prerequisite 613 00:23:17.340 --> 00:23:19.620 for doing it, and that's obviously not the case 614 00:23:19.620 --> 00:23:21.600 'cause you've proven that. 615 00:23:21.600 --> 00:23:25.230 So, I know that there are people listening 616 00:23:25.230 --> 00:23:29.400 to this right now who, they have an artistic bent, 617 00:23:29.400 --> 00:23:30.870 and maybe they're losing their vision, 618 00:23:30.870 --> 00:23:32.610 or maybe they've always been blind, 619 00:23:32.610 --> 00:23:35.340 but they still want to express themselves 620 00:23:35.340 --> 00:23:39.600 in this inherently visual medium. 621 00:23:39.600 --> 00:23:42.750 And you've proven that, that can be done. 622 00:23:42.750 --> 00:23:47.580 What would you say to somebody they have this art, 623 00:23:47.580 --> 00:23:51.330 that's just waiting to come out through their fingertips, 624 00:23:51.330 --> 00:23:53.790 and they want to do it, but they're a little bit afraid? 625 00:23:53.790 --> 00:23:56.430 What would you say to them? 626 00:23:56.430 --> 00:23:57.990 You know, I would say the same thing. 627 00:23:57.990 --> 00:23:59.580 If you're a person who is blind, 628 00:23:59.580 --> 00:24:01.920 if you're visually impaired, or if you're not. 629 00:24:01.920 --> 00:24:03.840 Art comes from your mind, you know perception 630 00:24:03.840 --> 00:24:05.790 is actually takes place in your brain. 631 00:24:05.790 --> 00:24:07.920 It doesn't take place in your eyes. 632 00:24:07.920 --> 00:24:10.680 In the same struggles that you have as a non-visual artist 633 00:24:10.680 --> 00:24:12.568 are the same ones you have as a visual artist. 634 00:24:12.568 --> 00:24:14.760 You're trying to take your thoughts, your ideas, 635 00:24:14.760 --> 00:24:17.640 your emotions, you know, from inside of you 636 00:24:17.640 --> 00:24:18.630 and put them outside, 637 00:24:18.630 --> 00:24:21.540 so that other people can understand them as well. 638 00:24:21.540 --> 00:24:23.040 And it takes a lot of practice 639 00:24:23.040 --> 00:24:25.500 and it takes an intense amount of failure. 640 00:24:25.500 --> 00:24:27.570 I think that's one of the most important things 641 00:24:27.570 --> 00:24:30.510 is that you need to be failing and you need to fail a lot, 642 00:24:30.510 --> 00:24:32.850 you know, and you need to be okay with it. 643 00:24:32.850 --> 00:24:35.580 And take those mistakes and just go with it. 644 00:24:35.580 --> 00:24:37.830 You know, and I've been able to talk 645 00:24:37.830 --> 00:24:40.080 to quite a few successful people in their careers. 646 00:24:40.080 --> 00:24:42.600 And whenever I get a chance to talk to someone 647 00:24:42.600 --> 00:24:44.647 that I admire, I always ask the same question. 648 00:24:44.647 --> 00:24:46.200 "What did you do to get where you are, 649 00:24:46.200 --> 00:24:48.417 like, you know, is there a tip that you can give me?" 650 00:24:48.417 --> 00:24:52.440 And the crazy thing is, almost every time they tell me, 651 00:24:52.440 --> 00:24:53.940 you need to fail. 652 00:24:53.940 --> 00:24:55.800 You know, if you're not failing then you're probably 653 00:24:55.800 --> 00:24:57.750 not trying enough new things. 654 00:24:57.750 --> 00:25:00.930 And if you don't, so just fail, be okay with it. 655 00:25:00.930 --> 00:25:04.710 It's incredible how much your failure will push you forward. 656 00:25:04.710 --> 00:25:06.180 And the great thing about art 657 00:25:06.180 --> 00:25:07.740 is that people don't really see your failure. 658 00:25:07.740 --> 00:25:09.570 You just show 'em that the successes. 659 00:25:09.570 --> 00:25:12.240 You've got the 10 paintings hanging in the gallery, 660 00:25:12.240 --> 00:25:13.073 they're all nice. 661 00:25:13.073 --> 00:25:14.400 You don't see the hundred back in the studio- 662 00:25:14.400 --> 00:25:16.260 That's it. That are crazy. 663 00:25:16.260 --> 00:25:18.090 Absolutely. 664 00:25:18.090 --> 00:25:21.240 John, if people want to find out more about you, 665 00:25:21.240 --> 00:25:23.370 if they want to check out your paintings, 666 00:25:23.370 --> 00:25:25.080 where can they go to do that? 667 00:25:25.080 --> 00:25:25.913 My website is just my last name and 668 00:25:25.913 --> 00:25:26.746 it's bramblitt.com. 669 00:25:28.260 --> 00:25:32.220 And on Facebook, I'm Bramblitt. On Instagram, I'm Bramblitt. 670 00:25:32.220 --> 00:25:35.880 And we do a livestream about once a week, every 8:00 PM 671 00:25:35.880 --> 00:25:38.190 on Tuesdays, Central Time. 672 00:25:38.190 --> 00:25:39.600 We do a livestream on Facebook 673 00:25:39.600 --> 00:25:41.490 where we just get on there and chat, 674 00:25:41.490 --> 00:25:42.600 and I talk about art stuff. 675 00:25:42.600 --> 00:25:45.000 And if people have questions, we'll do questions 676 00:25:45.000 --> 00:25:48.224 and other artists will get on there every once in a while. 677 00:25:48.224 --> 00:25:51.240 And it's a very laid-back time where we just hang out. 678 00:25:51.240 --> 00:25:52.980 But it's also a great time for people to come 679 00:25:52.980 --> 00:25:54.420 and get information, 680 00:25:54.420 --> 00:25:57.120 you know, if they want to chat in real time. 681 00:25:57.120 --> 00:25:58.380 That sounds awesome. 682 00:25:58.380 --> 00:26:00.660 We'll have all of those links in our show notes 683 00:26:00.660 --> 00:26:04.350 for you to check out and certainly tune into Facebook. 684 00:26:04.350 --> 00:26:06.210 Sounds like a great place to be. 685 00:26:06.210 --> 00:26:08.670 John, thank you so, so much for joining us. 686 00:26:08.670 --> 00:26:11.010 I love your story. I love your passion. 687 00:26:11.010 --> 00:26:13.320 I really appreciate your sharing with us. 688 00:26:13.320 --> 00:26:15.240 Ricky, thank you so much for having me. 689 00:26:15.240 --> 00:26:16.833 This has been so much fun. 690 00:26:18.060 --> 00:26:19.740 Got something to say? 691 00:26:19.740 --> 00:26:23.520 Share your thoughts about this episode of "Hadley Presents," 692 00:26:23.520 --> 00:26:26.310 or make suggestions for future episodes. 693 00:26:26.310 --> 00:26:28.080 We'd love to hear from you. 694 00:26:28.080 --> 00:26:32.490 Send us an email at podcast@hadley.edu. 695 00:26:32.490 --> 00:26:37.490 That's P-O-D-C-A-S-T@hadley.edu. 696 00:26:37.620 --> 00:26:40.567 Or leave us a message at 847-784-2870. 697 00:26:44.400 --> 00:26:45.899 Thanks for listening. 698 00:26:45.899 --> 00:26:48.399 (light music)