the exquisite touch of braille

sitting at home still in a feeling of being blessed and tired, I was  excited to be asked to do another show this weekend. Coming off of the gallery opening and most of my works being there,  i went home to start getting together some pieces  I've been working on  to finish.

Through the coarse of gearing up and doing the touchable double negative pieces i decided to create more braille art. To me nothing is more  beautiful then writing something  on the canvas for those to see without vision and giving them a word or thought to create there own beautiful canvas in there mind.

I had several pieces from small ones that read "faith" in braille to larger ones that read"imagine the most beautiful thing".I had even made one that said my quote" we exist in beauty but choose to ignore it".

(this one reads "braille is beautiful")

 to my shock and joy two pieces of the braille art sold! This to me was so wonderful, i had created something in braille that people with  full sight found to be beautiful! this left me feeling far more encouraged to finish the braille pieces still at home in my studio.The next day i went to pick up more supplies and more beads to finish the ones at home.As i squinted to read the itsy bitsy print on the beads boxes a  store employee  came to offer me  help" can i help you miss?" she called me miss that was sweet, "yes please,.."  then the inevitable happened ,I realized i had to speak to someone at a store admitting my impairment to seek help. This is never easy no matter how long you've had it or the severity but i felt more confident then usual and explained to her that i needed a certain size bead, the shape and how many. Now this seemed to only  perplex my store helper more. She stood silent for a moment then very meekly asked" I'm sorry ma'am but can i ask what exactly you need these for?" OK,..I then explained the braille art i was making.I was shocked to see her face light up! she asked so many questions, not ignorant at all. I found out that she was a student going to school to work with ,..the visually impaired! Adults more specifically and she very excitedly dragged me around through the store to help me find everything i needed.

("love looks not with the eyes but with the mind" from the Tempest by William Shakespeare)

That was the first positive experience i had had in a store in a long time like that i made me smile the whole way home.Once home i began finishing up the last braille pieces left on the art table.I had taken some quotes from two of my favorite Shakespeare plays and drew them out in braille.After setting my braille beads up i held up my two experiments to see if i liked it,..and i just don't know why but Shakespeare is especially stunning in braille.My fingers ran over every bead, each placement and thought about bringing the art of braille to more sighted people. When your sighted you see braille in the oddest spots and it becomes a joke, but those who see it in my art i hope they realize how much it means to those who need it :)