National Exhibits by Blind Artists

2004-2005 Artists Profiles

Stewart Allen
(Charlotte, North Carolina)
“ My work reflects the love and beauty of the world around us. The subjects chosen in my work reflect my desire to create a positive influence on each viewer.”

Fred Bixby
(Winchester, Virginia)
Inspired by jazz great Dizzie Gillespie, Fred has moved from work with acrylic to mixed media to make his art more accessible to his audience.

Charles Blackwell
(Berkeley, California)
“ I continue to experiment with and discover other media and forms of expression-perhaps even more so- and this is the spirit that informs my art today.”

Tina Blatter
(Kansas City, Missouri)
“I love creating new work, with a particular design or theme. Being blind and creating tactile work just adds to the challenge of doing new and different things.”

Ollin Blue
(Fall Creek, Oregon)
“Art has become my guide and teacher on a journey inward, a journey of self-discovery as well as a means to share what I find.”

Abe Brown
(Brooklyn, New York)
Abe photographs scenic landscapes and then paints from his photographs. By slightly altering the palette and composition, he imbues the landscapes with an artistic sense of balance.

Ron Bryant
(Philadelphia, Pennsylvania)
Ron sees his work take form after its start. He sees himself more involved in the process of working than in the finished product.

James Cadiz
(Claremont, California)
“ I feel through my hands. In my work, I try to bring out many happy and shocking colors that are racing through my mind like a merry-go-round.”

John Caperton, Jr.
(Albuquerque, New Mexico)
Macular Degeneration redirected John’s style of art to a more abstract method. He paints small watercolors with the aid of a closed circuit television reader.

Center for the Blind and Visually Impaired
(Chester, Pennsylvania)
A cooperative work by Artener Bonneville, Virginia Boyd, Theresa Bradley, John Calhoun, Jonni Lynn Campbell, Fred Ciccotelli, Anthony Crisante, John Dallatore, Anne Drake, Aaron Gaizband, John Gordy, Wanda Green, Patricia Guarini, William Johnson, Suzanne Lee, Beverly LeVere, Mary McClary, Darlene Muhammad, Bernadette O’Brien, Roderick Powell, James O’Conner, Gregory Smith, Dorothy Sinsman, Theresa Storti, Shirley Womack, Donald Young.

Betsy Clayton
(Dresher, Pennsylvania)
Despite Betsy’s imagination and eagerness to try new techniques, she is fulfilled when working in clay. “It’s the one place I want to be.”

William Cody
(Eureka, California)
“ What excites me is recording images of people doing the things they do every day in an unconscious way…I try to catch a little bit of the subject’s soul and preserve a moment in time.”

Christine Conko
(Monrovia, Maryland)
After an eight-month coma, Christine had to relearn the basics of everyday living. One thing she did not have to relearn was the ability to create art.

Brett Corrington
(Seattle, Washington)
“ The prints reflect a desire to see the world that has been placed before me; to draw from life, not merely remain locked in the world I have created in my mind.”

Henry Coupe
(Utica, New York)
A former art teacher and veteran of many art exhibits, Henry continues to utilize oils on canvas to portray his subjects.

Martha Cowden
(Dayton, Ohio)
Martha combines fiber coiling with hand built pottery, a Native American basketry technique, in her pieces. Fibers used in both her pottery and wall hangings are hand-spun.

Sam Dietze
(Altoona, Pennsylvania)
Sam gets his inspiration from nature, particularly sunsets and trees. He is inspired by his imagination and from his astronomic knowledge.

Lavera Diggins
(Philadelphia, Pennsylvania)
“ I’m grateful to God for the opportunity to continue doing my artwork for twenty years and pray that I can continue as long as God permits me to.”

William Dycus
(Oakland, California)
“ I release frustration through my art; through paint, pastels, and colored pencils-through the vibrations of different colors I feel- I become more relaxed and productive.”

Kathy Faul
(Swarthmore, Pennsylvania)
“ In the pursuit of finding and sharing truth, joy and love, blindness has been my greatest teacher. The gift of inner vision is one that I wish to share with others through form and sculpture.”

Form in Art
(Philadelphia, Pennsylvania)
Rose Adkins, Sid W. Albert, Toinette Allen, George Banner, Margaret Bujas, Laura Renee Cohn, Ethel Dell, Carol Durham, Michelle Ford, Rebecca Harris, Williette Hudson, Mary Johnson, Vincent Kurcaewski, Emily Langford, Lydia McKenzie, Yvonne Mason, Hannah Mills, Sara Mitchell, Andres Mullock, Joanne Perilstein, Carol Rutenberg, Grace Thompson.

Janice Frishkopf
(Belmont, Massachusetts)
Inspired by nature, Janice renders nature motifs in colored pencil and ink. She combines these elements to communicate certain feelings or specific emotions.

Carmelo Gannello
(Oak Park, Illinois)
Carmelo is known for his paintings of parks, marine life and city living. The repetition of circles in his work symbolizes the cataracts that have transformed his vision.

Basia Gorski
(Stewartstown, Pennsylvania)
Basia explores the arts through a variety of media. Her creations are interpretations of fairy tales, stories, or imaginary subjects with surprising twists.

Muriel B. Harris
(Edison, New Jersey)
The “artist within” Muriel began the first day she held a pencil or crayon. Her art has continued to evolve, encompassing portrait, representational, social comment, and abstract art.

S. Passle Helminski
(Erie, Pennsylvania)
Passle has exhibited her fiber work internationally and continues to teach and organize fashion shows and wearable art seminars throughout North America.

Margie Hinklein
(Cape Coral, Florida)
“ I have always admired and enjoyed the beauty of nature. I like to paint the beautiful blue sky, billowy white clouds, majestic mountains, and the colorful flowers and trees.”

Arlene Innmon
(Minneapolis, Minnesota)
Tara has used a wide range of materials to create art that reflects her relationship with the world and to capture different periods of her life.

Katherine Kadish
(Yellow Springs, Ohio)
Her art draws from many sources. Most recently her work has shown East Asian influences from Chinese calligraphy to the color relationships of traditional Korean dress.

Lois Kilgore
(Cape Coral, Florida)
Encouraged to love and create art from an early age, Lois considers herself lucky to have found a “window of opportunity” which allows her by the grace of God, to continue doing something she loves so much.

Jeffrey Kneut
(Rochester, New York)
Jeffrey has pursued a life long passion for art. A former graphic designer, he now devotes his time to the fine arts.

Serik Kulmeshkenov
(Minneapolis, Minnesota)
Serik specializes in line drawings, photography, and poetry. Despite his skill, Serik attributes any credit to his gifted hands.

Michele LaComb
(Conklin, New York)
From an early age, Michele loved creating art, but other interests intervened. Changing vision revitalized her love of art and her desire to create new works.

Charlotte Lawhon
(Ft. Myers, Florida)
“ I’d always been interested in painting but I never had the time, until I lost my vision. It is very enjoyable...”

Eve Lipman
(Philadelphia, Pennsylvania)
“ To create a piece of art despite having a visual impairment is in itself a miracle. One uses sense that a person with normal vision sometimes forgets to use.”

Donald C. Lorah
(Philadelphia, Pennsylvania)
Don became blind at age 37 and has since studied at the Main Line Center for the Arts and the Philadelphia Museum of Art.

Frank Madison
(Philadelphia, Pennsylvania)
“ It’s a joy to be able to create with my mind and my hands and to fulfill a dream.”

Coramae Mann
(Ft. Myers, Florida)
“Many of my paintings recall memories of the marvelous times I had traveling. In other series, I portray childhood play, places I have lived and other personal experiences. My art therefore, is me.”

Rita McManus
(Cape Coral, Florida)
Many of Rita’s works evoke memories from childhood. “I still remember sitting by the river, as a child and flying my kite with my brother. I wonder what that spot looks like now.”

Tracy Mosman
(Indianapolis, Indiana)
“The activity of drawing has long been a personal favorite. I think it has always charmed me because of its simplicity and versatility. It never stops providing me with both pleasure and ideas.”

Lisa O’Shaughnessy
(Deer Park, New York)
“ My work is a way to communicate to the world in the way in which I see. I use it as a tool to process the experiences in my life and reflect the messages that I have learned from them.”

Francisca Pujols
(Philadelphia, Pennsylvania)
Francisca continues to cultivate her new found love of creating in clay with additional coursework.

Michael Richard
(Studio City, California)
Michael is pursuing his love of fine art photography driven by a keen desire to help others with disabilities by his example.

Diana Riukas
(Bristol, Pennsylvania)
Her current work is a critique of mass culture and examines the relationship between objectification and its impact on the subjective world of the individual.

Barbara Romain
(Los Angeles, California)
Using mixed media, Barbara communicates depths of meaning using an array of classic and personal symbolism.

Craig Royal
(Tampa, Florida)
“ The flowering of consciousness and love are recurrent themes in my sculpture.”

Romaine Samworth
(Malvern, Pennsylvania)
With a whimsical imagination, she sculpts colorful caricatures of mostly animals inspired by her early years on a farm.

Verne Sanford
(Valparaiso, Indiana)
Working with various woods, Verne renders familiar objects into wooden creations.

Alfredo Santiago
(Brooklyn, New York)
“ My limited vision is not an obstacle, but an opportunity to see clearly what I never had the time to see before.”

Carol Saylor
(Roslyn, Pennsylvania)
“ I now know that we are not our bodies, and the body’s eyes have nothing to do with vision.”

Russell Schermer
(Chico, California)
“If I’d have to make cups and bowls all day to earn a living at this, I’m not interested in doing it at all. But let me make cars, and I’m ready to go to work.”

Christopher Schoofs
(Kewaskum, Wisconsin)
Christopher has “a keen interest in light and its power not only to convey form, but also feeling.”

Leon Sokola
(Wilmington, Delaware)
Interested in art from childhood, Leon emphasizes light and color with multiple marks in an impressionist or abstract expressionist style.

Robert Steinem
(Colrain, Massachusetts)
Robert reflects that his goal when painting is “to take the eye for a ride.”

William Talero
(Philadelphia, Pennsylvania)
“ My wish has been not so much to produce a work of art as to give vent to my own creative imagination and enjoyment in the process…”

Frank Valliere
(Gorham, Maine)
“Objects of human existence left to the environment seem to be telling their stories: where they’ve been, what they’ve done, and what they are doing now as they settle in for the long haul, taking on more and more the character of their surroundings- the harsh, beautiful truth.”

C.T. Ward
(Salmon, Idaho)
C.T. compares his eyesight to looking through a dirty window with the sun shining through it. “The vision comes from the heart of nature and my love for her.”

Martina Webb
(Philadelphia, Pennsylvania)
Martina quotes from a favorite scripture, “Neglect not the gift that is in you.”

Roger Weiss
(Ivyland, Pennsylvania)
“As you view my work, you will see the photos taken and developed by a man who wouldn’t give up. I hope you enjoy and appreciate the work and the man behind the photos.”

Kurt Weston
(Huntington Beach, California)
Kurt developed this series of photographs to represent the emotional, psychological, and physical process he experiences as his visual acuity changes.

2001-2002 Awards