A Brush with Darkness: A book review of sorts!

"Art is not what you see, but what you make others see."--Degas

By David Faucheux

In A Brush with Darkness (RC 60724), artist Lisa Fittipaldi describes how a blind person can paint. I am still not sure I understand her explanations of the mind's eye, but they work for her.

I read/hear autobiographies by blind people so as to gain a sense of place and of what is possible in life, not necessarily my own life but in the lives of others who are blind and dare to dream and have supportive others, a spouse, a friend, someone.

Fittipaldi, a former CPA and trauma nurse with a photographic memory, became blind in her late 40s due to a rare autoimmune disease, vasculitis, that the doctors were too late in diagnosing. It was her husband, Al, growing frustrated with her torpor and poor coping skills, who one day tossed a child's water color set at her. From such events are life changes made.

In the summer of 1995, she attended several painting classes in Ruston, Louisiana, managing apparently to avoid The Louisiana Center for the Blind while there. (I attended that Center but that is another blog or several.)

Her thoughts on living in a blind world are interesting; but, perhaps, I have been blind now too long as some of the things that she says are extremely complex to master after sight loss, i.e., making a peanut butter sandwich, organizing your clothes, brushing your teeth, eating, pouring liquids, are no big deal to me. But then painting is something I could not attempt with any degree of success! (It could be that maybe I should try it once just for fun as some of the abstracts that hang in museums surely could have been painted with the artist blindfolded!) I am not sure what exactly Fittipaldi sees or how she translates that through her mind's eye onto canvas. I suspect, we shall never know if what she paints from what she sees in her mind and what sighted viewers see on her canvases are the same. It may not even matter. I am intrigued that she can recognize different pigments by their feel.

I no longer see (my ophthalmologist says that but I think sometimes bright sun penetrates my optic nerves) and have long wanted to find an interesting hobby to turn into a vocation as the library thing is now practically moribund. It's just been too long with too little to show for it. I'd stand just as good a chance to be a contestant on a trivia-type gameshow and win decent money, or win the lottery, as I would getting a library job especially as I recently tried, one last time, to apply for a position, this in the library for the blind in Louisiana where I live. I was told by the HR people that I lacked by 4 months sufficient experience to be placed in the interview category.

I can't help but think of a popular New Age guru-type author whose gifts at translating pop Hinduism and pop science into meaningful prose has made his pockets deep, indeed. He opined that your darma or purpose should come, flow, easily and naturally. If you are pushing very hard all the time, you may not be in the right place or attempting the right purpose. Perhaps, I am not?

Maybe exploring aromacology or food lore...

Learn more about this unique artist and her non-profit foundation to help disabled children.

IMAGINE that!