The Blind Painter

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When I look at this blind artist’s paintings, I get the feeling that in many ways, he has more vision than a person who can see. It fascinates me how being without, can offer as much, or more, than being with.
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“No Thoughts” by John Bramblitt
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Here’s a feel good video that tells his story. It’s about a remarkable young blind man who, of all things, paints. In spite of losing his sight from numerous seizures, he found a way to use his other gifts to help him paint and re-connect with the world. He relies on his other senses to create striking images in his mind…rich and layered images that he has learned to transfer to canvas, by touch. His unique and creative form of painting gives him a valuable and healing gift — another way to communicate.
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This story reminds me of grief. Much of the pain I felt during my darkest days was directly related to the devastating sense of change that comes from death — in particular, the sudden loss of communication that death brings. But as I continue to discover other ways to communicate with my deceased loved ones (through writing, art, music, nature, etc), I become happier and less afraid of death. I attribute this to the fact that it’s very comforting to know that I’m capable of connecting with anyone I love — anytime I need to. Like John, I just have to turn to my creative side, and use my other gifts, to find other ways to communicate.
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Click below to view a fascinating video of John Bramblitt’s story
titled: “The Documentary” 

 

Here’s another painting of John’s that I really like…


“So He Won’t Break” by John Bramblitt
(click here for more info on this artist and painting)
The following description was taken from the artist’s website. Here’s what John has to say about this painting:
“Based on the song from The Black Keys the color for this painting, as all of my music paintings, comes directly from the music. When I hear music I see color; it actually turns out to be in a very consistent way. ‘D’ notes for instance appear to me as a reddish color – the intensity depending on how it is played, and how it is used in conjunction with other notes. I have had people who follow my music paintings actually be able to play songs on a guitar just by ‘reading’ the notes across the painting. More than just a note for note translation though; the painting tries to capture the feeling of hearing the music during that particular performance. A painting of a live performance would differ if I went back and experienced the performance again. There would be a lot of similarities because the music is basically the same, but the feeling and atmosphere of a performance changes every time in subtle ways, and this would affect the painting. I loved the raw feeling of this song, and the way that this type of rock flows, but also has an almost impromptu feel to it. I selected the particular panel carefully for this piece so that the defects in the wood would show through. A crack runs horizontally down the painting (this is a superficial crack, and the reason I chose to use this panel for this piece), and in places the wood grain is allowed to show through. I liked the roughness that this adds to the overall structure of the piece – rock is individual, sometimes rough, but always stands out. I felt this painting should do the same.”

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Here’s a link to the song that the painting above was based on. I enjoyed listening to the song while viewing the painting http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DFSakYc7xhc.

Lyrics to “So He Won’t Break”:
Gone like the wind, And the state it put him in
To hold his head high, When he really wanted to die
And you know the difference it makes,
And you know all that it takes, Is love, so he won’t break
He’s crazy from the pain, And can’t get hurt again
If he ever falls, I’d be sorry for us all
And you know the difference it makes,
And you know all that it takes, Is love, so he won’t break
Right around the way, Is where they go to pay
For remedies and pills, To ease their ills
And you know the difference it makes
And you know all that it takes, Is love, so he won’t break
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And one more of my favorites….
Here’s one more of my favorites…HH
“Perceptions 11” by John Bramblitt
(click here for more info on this artist and painting)
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If you’re appreciating John’s work as much as I am, I encourage you to check out his captivating website by clicking here www.bramblitt.net I’ve found that he is also very gifted at expressing himself with words, and I loved reading all the thought-provoking descriptions that accompany many of his pieces.
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Thank You sharing your beautiful visions John. They are incredible! I feel so grateful to have found your work. You inspire me and give new meaning to the word “blind”.

 

 

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One thought on “The Blind Painter”

  1. I wanted to thank you for writing such a wonderful piece about my artwork. I appreciate you taking so much time to put this together; if you don’t mind me saying you have a real talent as a writer. Thank you again, John

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