Teaching the Blind

terracotta, 12 x 4 inches

Recently I had the opportunity to teach a blind person how to sculpt. The first piece I had her make a cylinder shape out of clay, then we used a subtractive method of removing chunks, twisting and manipulating the shape into something completely different.

I had never even met a blind person let alone given a blind person art instruction.









 I found myself scrambling for descriptive vocabulary in order to instruct my lesson. I made a piece along side of her so that she could "feel" what I had done and make adjustments to her own piece. This was her finished piece. 





 

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terracotta, life size

The second piece I had her create was a portrait. Again I had made a sculpture myself, working alongside of her so that each step could be demonstrated. It was tremendously inspiring to be able to help someone with a handicap make something that they were extremely proud of. Not to mention how well both pieces turned out. Both have such expression and character, I never get tired of looking at them.

The work speaks for itself!

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