My seeing eye people

It was opening night of My first art show. Britney and I were standing around looking at everyone and i was so nervous.My two pieces were hung and we were looking around to find them.

First Brie found the fun piece i had made, "The Eye Of Brie".

It was  a painting done on the backside of wood paneling, i drew the outline of flames, outlined them with a hot glue gun then painted them in varying shades of fire.When it was done i didn't know what to do So the idea came from one of our"ooh shiny" creative conversations to paint and Egyptian like eye.Since i always called her Brie short for Britney it became "The Eye of Brie" for the one who helped me create it.

We stood in front of the piece and giggled at all the people enjoying it, funny because now looking back at it really was the first of my touchable pieces, since i wanted the viewer to feel the shape of fire.We excitedly walked around for my my second piece, taking in all the art from other artists with blind-ish disabilities. All were such a varying form from retinitis pigmosa, macular degeneration, cone rod and more.Leading the way we found my main piece,"Perfect Chaos."

This piece was the end result form the old profile sketches i had done. I began compiling the profiles(more simple now due to the central vision loss)and kept layering them coming from one face to another across a 2' by 4' canvas.After which i began layering white washes and outlines til i achieved some sense of depth to those who had vision. On the top i did a Jackson Pollack style treatment of black  splashes til from a distance it looked like nothing more than a abstract til the viewer got close . For those with a vision issue like mine it was so much fun to watch there faces as upon getting closer they saw something hidden!

The night went so well so many other artists, talking and understanding each other making "blind" jokes in only the way we can giggling and feeling at home.The news man asked that we all get together and take a group photo.Being that i admiringly am a class clown sorta girl i stood in back. This is funny since i am incredibly short at 5'2"."OK everyone look up here please."the camera woman asked,...

the whole group exploded into laughter! Me and my funny art buddy began making joke upon joke, the laughter didn't stop! David was a great artist the kind of art you could see in a book of children's fantasy tales, his vision was the opposite of mine with him having only central and no peripheral so of course we got along."Next shes going to ask for us to focus," he kept joking.Most of us at this point weren't even standing through laughter, the guide dogs were even not paying attention.After allowing us enough time to attempt to put our game faces back on they took a series of really nice photos.I parted from the group after and laughed it up some more with Brie who was still giggling.

As the night came to a close and i learned of my first piece had sold. Brie and I were gathering our things in such a great mood.One of the artists walked over to us,
"oh is this your seeing eye person?"
"um yes i guess she is, This is my friend Britney .", I laughed i never had really thought about that before.
She introduced herself and her "seeing eye person", who was her boyfriend.And we talked about this interesting and funny term she used.

I don't like my cane, I'll be honest even though it is a huge tool for me i find it attracts more wrong attention then good. If i get on  bus with it, sit in front so i can speak with the driver then look at or read my phone and inevitably people get upset.Suddenly because i have a cane, and have vision enough to squint with it touching my face i must be lying and taking advantage of the system. Thus why being a middle grounder is so frustrating sometimes.So i choose to go out more with people then solo, i realized i have always relied on a seeing eye person over my cane.

Here how to tell if you yourself have a seeing eye person,..
*they lead you across the street without even having to be asked
*they read menus to you
*they describe funny things you may have missed
*they help you with mail
*they enlarge your video games features so you can still play and quest,..(OK maybe that one is just for some people)

but you get the idea

Through out your mobility training ill bet the one thing they missed teaching you about was your seeing eye person, so for all of you who have them make sure you let them know how valuable they are to you and how much you appreciate them, and for those who are seeing eye people you are some of the most caring people i have ever met and please continue to do what you do,..

and to ALL my seeing eye people i love you and thank you for making my path easier to walk and live everyday.