Doug Keeley’s The Mark of a Leader
May 30, 2010 by admin
Filed under Blog, Media Coverage, Video
The typical subjects for the stories that the Mark of a Leader program deals with are people like Oprah, Lance Armstrong, and brands like Apple, Cirque du Soleil and Starbucks so when they said they wanted to incorporate my story into their repretoire I was extremely honored to say the least. I can’t say enough good things about Doug Keeley and The Mark of a Leader pogram. In tying to explain what they do I would say that they are a group of motivational speakers, but what they do is really so much more than that. They incorporate music, video and professional storytellers to not only inpire their audiences, but to entertain them at the same time. What they do is live, but I have posted a clip showing part of one of their talks where Doug Keeley talks a little about yours truly. Thanks Doug!
Here is their website: http://www.themarkofaleader.com/who.html
and here is a blog that Doug Keeley writes: http://themarkofaleader.typepad.com/
CBS Feature Story Tonight
May 17, 2010 by admin
Filed under Blog, Media Coverage
UPDATE:
Here is the link to the video. CBS video
Mike Kinney from CBS 11 came out to my studio last Thursday and filmed me working on some paintings. He was there filming for a couple of hours, but a feature spot on the CBS news is only a minute and a half long so it will be interesting to me to see how he edits it together. He is a great guy, and a lot of fun to talk to. I’m so appreciative of him coming out to do the story. It should run tonight at 4PM on CBS 11, and then again at 8 on their sister station, and one last time during the morning show the next day. Thanks again Mike, and I hope to see you again soon when we do the workshops at Haley-Henman!
Bold Vision
September 10, 2009 by admin
Filed under Media Coverage
By Megan Beck/originally published for the North Texan
One of the last things John Bramblitt saw before losing his eyesight was the detail of Saturn’s rings in a UNT astronomy lab. Then, he found a new way to explore the world. He began to paint.
When John Bramblitt (’07) completely lost his vision during his freshman year at UNT in 2001, he turned to painting, sometimes spending 16 hours a day at a canvas in addition to attending classes.
“I started to understand the world a little better and think through the depression and frustration,” says Bramblitt, who has battled epilepsy since he was a toddler and believes seizures destroyed his vision. “It forced me to step outside myself and start living in the moment.”
The idea of drawing seemed ridiculous at first, he says, but expressing himself on a canvas was easier at the time than dealing with the three-dimensional world.
“When I paint, I can’t think of anything else — not the next brushstroke, bills I have to pay or a seizure from that morning,” he says.
Using white paint, Bramblitt first draws an outline, then feels his way across the raised edges to paint each color. Most of his works are created with oil paint because each color texture varies in consistency — for instance, he says white is thicker and creamier than black.
“Every emotion I had and thing I touched started to have color because it reminded me of a color I painted with,” he says.
Among his subjects are musicians, street scenes and animals. He says he drew a lot of dogs before getting his guide dog, Echo. He also once arranged a meeting with skateboarder Tony Hawk just to study his face for a painting.
“I see with my hands and am able to take in a lot more information,” Bramblitt says. “I think I have an advantage over sighted artists because I’m completely there, touching the model, asking questions and getting an emotional response.”
During the past eight years, Bramblitt has created more than 100 paintings, which have sold in 20 countries. The 2008 CAP awards, a Dutch awards program honoring the achievements of individuals with disabilities, commissioned him to paint famous Dutch model Reni de Boer, and the prime minister honored his work.
Bramblitt and his wife, Jacqi Serie (’02), production director for the North Texas Daily campus newspaper, celebrated the birth of their first child, Jack, in March 2008. The family travels around the country, hosting and teaching workshops for blind and sighted children, adults and artists.
Bramblitt, whose once daily seizures have drastically reduced in number and severity, credits his perseverance to graduate to the staff in UNT’s Ronald E. McNair Post-baccalaureate Achievement Program. The program guides undergraduate students into graduate study.
“They are brilliant. If not for the constant encouragement of Diana Elrod (director) and Judy Morris (former director) when I was losing my sight, I would have dropped out of school,” he says.
Instead, Bramblitt is planning to return to UNT for graduate school. And he had his first flying lesson this summer as part of a long-term plan to use colored smoke to create abstract art in the air.
“I’m obsessed with painting,” he says. “In expressing myself, connecting with people, it’s become the way I see the world.”
John Bramblitt (’07)
Degree:
B.A.A.S. (English, creative writing, nonprofit studies)
Definition of success:
Being able to do what you want to do.
Superhero I’d want to be:
Batman, because he has the utility belt. He’s just a regular guy who thinks up solutions to all the problems.
Advice to new students:
Have an open mind.
What I do besides paint:
I’m learning to play the bass guitar (my studio has 11 speakers and two subwoofers), and I’m in the process of writing a book.
Best reaction to my paintings:
People have cried in front of them. The first show I ever did, I didn’t let anyone know I was vision impaired until the end of the show. They went back and looked at my paintings again.
Favorite UNT memory:
The very first class I had was an English class, and I just knew that this college was going to be right for me.
Advice to artists:
Use all your senses, not just your eyes.
Question I’m asked the most:
How do I draw?
Philosophy I live by:
I try to live in the moment.
My favorite work:
Whatever I’m working on. I’m always trying to do something new in a painting.
Hardest part of painting:
Making sure I’m saying what I want to say with the painting, to make things as clear as possible.
Day In the Life (’07)
10 a.m. I wake up and make coffee.
10:15 a.m. I take the coffee pot to my studio and lock all the doors and turn off the phone, unless an interview or phone call has been scheduled.
I generally have four to six paintings going at a time so that I can go from one to another while waiting for parts to dry so that I can feel them. Sound is a big part of my painting process. The whole time I am in the studio, I am feeding CDs into the sound system which comprises speakers mounted around all of the walls, ceiling and floor so that the room pulses with more than 5,000 watts of sound.
Noon When I come to a stopping point I will grab some lunch from the kitchen, usually leftovers, and bring it back to the studio to eat while I work on my correspondence.
4 p.m. I work on my writing. When I am nearing a writing deadline for a particular project, I may extend the hours that I write.
6 p.m. My wife, Jacqi, comes home from work so I stop work and turn my phone on, and hang out with her and my son, Jack.
7 p.m. I cook dinner and we watch a movie together.
10 p.m. I go back to the studio and paint until the point that I need to let the canvas dry so that I will be able to touch it to check what I have done. Once that point is reached I work on my correspondence, and then I concentrate on my writing.
3-4 a.m. I finish up and go to bed.
In Blindness, a Bold New Artistic Vision
September 10, 2009 by admin
Filed under Media Coverage
The faces in John Bramblitt’s paintings peer out through their canvases like hazy daydreams — apparitions that make it all the more astounding that the artist is blind.
Mr. Bramblitt, 37, lost his vision gradually over about 20 years, becoming completely blind in 2001. The exact cause is not clear, but Mr. Bramblitt, who lives in Dallas, suspects that it resulted from years of brain seizures that began at age 2, leading to a diagnosis of epilepsy.
As he grew older, the seizures became more and more frequent and changed in character — from tonic-clonic, which causes a loss of consciousness and violent twitching, to partial, in which the patient remains conscious but cannot function for a few moments.
“There would be months I’d have so many seizures I couldn’t count them,” Mr. Bramblitt said in an interview.
At first, his vision would become blurry but eventually clear up. With time, however, it cleared up less and less after each episode, until he could no longer see.
Dr. Alan Ettinger, vice chairman of neurology at Long Island Jewish Medical Center, says he has never had a patient who became blind because of epilepsy. “If there is some relationship, it is extraordinarily unusual,” he said. Still, he added that if the seizures were related to a decreased flow of blood to the brain, that could have affected the visual centers.
Mr. Bramblitt says that once he started to lose his vision, his immediate goal was to make the best of his situation, partly because of the cost of seeing multiple neurologists.
“The focus was more on trying to retain as much vision as I could,” he said. “And once it was gone, the focus switched to learning to adapt.”
Mr. Bramblitt continued taking classes at the University of North Texas as his condition would allow, and eventually he graduated with a degree in English. But he became depressed. All his life, he had loved to draw and write, and blindness had robbed him of his creative outlets. “I had to learn a new way to write,” he said. “And drawing just seemed silly. The idea of a blind person drawing just didn’t make any sense.”
Another frustration that developed over time was Mr. Bramblitt’s sense that his family could not understand how he “saw” the world in spite of his blindness.
“I didn’t so much lose my sight as I lost my freedom,” he said. “I was trapped in my own head.”
Determined to get his vision back in some way, Mr. Bramblitt picked up a bottle of white glue and began to draw outlines that he could feel with his fingers once the glue dried. He soon switched to a paint product that dried more quickly, and he learned to distinguish between different shades of oil paint based on their texture and viscosity.
“It wasn’t until I lost my sight that I became brave enough to fail,” he said. “Even if the paintings didn’t look good, I didn’t have to see them.”
The paintings that once took Mr. Bramblitt 14 hours to complete were now coming to him faster. With increasing concentration and focus, his work became bolder and more vivid — a way for him to show others the colors and shapes he now perceived.
And while it is still unclear whether Mr. Bramblitt’s epilepsy caused his blindness, his blindness, it seems, has improved his epilepsy.
Many people with epilepsy perceive auras before the onset of a seizure. These auras may take the form of sensing a bitter taste, visualizing bright colors or smelling an odor that isn’t there. For Mr. Bramblitt, the focus required to work on his paintings allowed him to begin noticing his auras — a smell like burnt popcorn — further in advance of a seizure. This gave him a chance to sit down and relax, making the seizures feel less intense.
Over time, the seizures have become less frequent and have improved to the point where Mr. Bramblitt no longer takes antiseizure medication. He credits his improvement to his art: painting has taught him to live in the moment, he says, and stay calm through stressful situations.
“I’m not an advocate for anybody getting off their seizure medications,” he said, “unless it’s just a good thing for them.”
Some of Mr. Bramblitt’s paintings are being shown in small galleries in Salt Lake City and Pittsburgh. His most recent work includes song lyrics written in Braille among the colors and faces on his canvases, which he invites viewers (including those who aren’t blind) to touch and feel.
Along with this success has come quiet confidence and acceptance. “I don’t think of myself as being a blind person or an epileptic,” Mr. Bramblitt said. “It’s just another aspect of who I am.”
He may never regain his vision, but he no longer views his blindness as a handicap. “Life for me now,” he said, “is way more colorful than it ever was.”
Blind artist: ‘Painting is seeing for me’
September 10, 2009 by admin
Filed under Media Coverage
This story has been updated to correct the sponsor of artist John Bramblitt’s visit. It is the MU Museum of Art and Archaeology.
COLUMBIA — About 17 third-graders at Lee Elementary School sat at their tables in art class Thursday with white blindfolds over their eyes. The children had empty pages in front of them as well as four cups of paint — in red, yellow, blue and white. Each color had a different texture, so the students could feel the difference as they painted.
Before they were blindfolded, the children chose either a blank sheet of paper or a picture with a raised outline. When they started to paint, they began to giggle and talk.
“I think this feels weird.”
“This one feels like sand.”
“What color am I using?”
“This is really hard.”
“Stop,” said their art teacher, Ann Mehr. But she wasn’t scolding. She wanted them to use their other senses. “Do you hear the sound of the faucet running?” she asked. “How do the different paints feel?”
Mehr’s students were learning what it feels like to paint without sight, just as artist John Bramblitt does every day. After losing his sight because of epilepsy, Bramblitt, 37, was declared legally blind in 2001. Since then, the artist from Denton, Texas, has developed a new sense of sight. His paintings have brought him national attention, and he is visiting Columbia this week to lead workshops and talk about artists with disabilities.
“Painting is seeing for me,” Bramblitt said after working with Mehr’s students. “There’s much more color in the world now, and as time goes on, it’s brighter and brighter.”
News Coverage from John Bramblitt on Vimeo.
During workshops with two of Mehr’s classes, Bramblitt explained to the students how he lost his sight and how it has affected his life and art.
“You all use your eyes to see,” he told the children. “I do the same thing, but I do it with my hands.”
To create a painting, Bramblitt starts by sketching a stencil using stiff fabric paint. Once this paint dries, he is able to feel the outline of the picture with his fingertips. He said that because different colors of oil paints have different textures and consistencies, he is able to identify paint colors simply by touching them. At a workshop Wednesday with art teachers, Bramblitt said his favorite color to paint with is electric blue, a mixture of white and deep blue.
“It’s so creamy,” he said. “It feels soft like human skin; it’s silky and fun to work with.”
On Thursday, after learning the methods, the students were blindfolded and asked to use their other senses to create the paintings. Each paint color had a substance added, such as sand or flour, so the students could differentiate.
Third-grader Praise Tyler devised another system in which he separated his colors into the four points of a compass.
“The red is in the north, so I know where it is,” Praise said. “And the blue is next to it.”
After Praise finished his painting, the boy said: “I’m glad he taught us this. I want to paint another one.”
Bramblitt’s presentation was part of a unit about people who have changed American history. Recently, the students have learned about history-changers who also had disabilities.
“It shows that we are all able to make a difference, no matter our disabilities,” Mehr said after class Thursday. “Certainly having John here is a capstone experience to showing the kids that everyone can make a difference.”
The MU Museum of Art and Archaeology brought Bramblitt and his wife, Jacqi Serie, to Columbia to help highlight the museum’s exhibit “Driven,” which spotlights artists with disabilities. The exhibit, which runs through April 19, features 15 artists between the ages of 16 and 25. Bramblitt’s works are not included in the exhibit.
Cathy Callaway, associate museum educator, said learning about artists with disabilities is important to her.
“It broadens your horizons,” Callaway said. “It gives you an appreciation for what people with disabilities can achieve, and that’s what we’ve been talking about in our exhibit ‘Driven.’”
The museum was able to arrange Bramblitt’s visit through a Missouri Arts Council grant.
“We couldn’t have done it without the funding,” said Mary Pixley, associate museum curator of European and American art, at the first of two student workshops Thursday.
Pixley looked around at the children who smiled and laughed as they painted. “We really wanted to make a difference, and I think we have,” she said.
Bramblitt, who gave a lecture Thursday at the Reynolds Journalism Institute, will be at Orr Street Studios for an artists roundtable and then back at Lee with the fourth-graders on Friday.
Bramblitt and Serie, who leads the North Texas Daily newspaper at the University of North Texas, travel frequently to speak about Bramblitt’s art. In Columbia, the focus is on teaching children about artists with disabilities.
“We want to show kids that there are ways to be creative even if you are disabled,” Serie said.
She said that when they visit different parts of the country, her husband is usually asked to give a lecture.
“That’s great,” Serie said, “but it really gets fun when we’re able to work with the kids and get messy.”
At the workshop for teachers on Wednesday, 13 teachers from Columbia elementary schools gathered at Lee and got their hands dirty as Bramblitt taught them his unique way of painting without seeing. Marcia Balkin and Anne Norris, two first-grade teachers from Lee, giggled just like the children as they mixed finger paints and blindfolded each other before painting their sightless masterpieces.
“We’re always looking for new ways to reach the kids,” Balkin said as she completed an elaborate flower painting.
Josh Green, who teaches sixth- and seventh-graders at Bearfield School, had a little trouble staying in the lines with his blindfold on.
“You can’t mess up with art. You can’t make a mistake because it’s something that you created,” Green said as he looked at his jumbled artwork.
He hopes to take what he has learned from Bramblitt back to his students. “My students need to feel success,” Green said as he cleaned off his brushes and packed up for the day.
In Mehr’s art class, the students enjoyed experiencing life through their guest speaker’s eyes. Several of them practiced walking with their eyes closed and commented on how hard it was.
Third-grader Joseph Jacobs decided he wanted Bramblitt to be the new owner of his picture of balloons. “I thought he might like one of my paintings,” Joseph said.
Bramblitt was touched by the gift.
“That’s definitely going on the wall in my studio,” he said.
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A smiling jester dominates artwork by Praise Tyler.
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Shades of red and yellow color artwork by Christopher Frank.
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Artwork by Faith Elsbury, a third-grader at Lee Elementary, includes bright colors.
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Blind artist John Bramblitt uses his hand to feel a Lee Elementary third grader’s painting. Bramblitt, who lost his vision in 2001, uses the different textures of paints to identify colors.
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John Bramblitt guides the hands of a Lee Elementary student on Thursday afternoon. Bramblitt, who uses different textures to identify paints and colors, taught the students how to paint without using their eyes.
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John Bramblitt instructs Lee Elementary third-graders Praise Tyler and Christopher Frank as they attempt to paint blindfolded. Bramblitt, who lost his sight in 2001, visited the school on Thursday to talk with the students about what it is like to be a visual artist that cannot see.
Blind Ambitions Radio Program
September 6, 2009 by admin
Filed under Media Coverage
This interview originally aired in 2007 on ACB Radio with Mark Marvel. 1hr.
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
dfwreporting.com
August 26, 2009 by admin
Filed under Media Coverage
Posted Aug. 26, 2009
http://dfwreporting.com
The Art of Living
August 9, 2009 by admin
Filed under Media Coverage
The Art of Living from John Bramblitt on Vimeo.
Artist Talk! August 22 at 3PM in the Haley-Henman Gallery
Terry: Update