Colourful art brings light to blind Edmonton artist’s life: ‘There’s always a way’ | 24CA News

Kim Hammond was 30 years outdated when Type 1 Diabetes stole her eyesight nearly in a single day.

“It was back when insulin was very hard on the eyes,” she defined.

“It was like gray and black rain came down. I said, ‘Oh no, you have to take me to the hospital.’ It was the retinas bleeding.”

Despite greater than 100 laser surgical procedures and quite a few different bodily operations, Hammond was left with no imaginative and prescient in her left eye, and simply two per cent in her proper. She additionally went colourblind.

“It was challenging — I didn’t want to leave the house.”

But although her world appears to be like darkish, Hammond selected to fill her house, and her coronary heart, with color — utilizing her creativity to make vibrant artwork.

“I got into the shows and then eventually a couple of the galleries,” she defined.

“It’s an expression. It’s a chunk of my soul and you get to see what I see in my head. That’s scary sometimes!”

The vivid colors and delicate brush strokes of her work depict lovely scenes she tucked away in her thoughts, earlier than she misplaced her sight.

Hammond nodded within the path of a portray of a inexperienced and yellow farmers discipline, barns and a vivid blue sky.

“[That is] Saskatchewan, when we drove across the country and the kids were little and we let them run. That… that’s in my head.”

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Other artwork, like her customized pet portraits, are accomplished painstakingly over hours — when the situations are good.

“You have to wait until it’s light enough in the room. You can’t start until 10 to 10:30 a.m., and you’re good until about 1 p.m.. Hopefully you can get it done before then,” Hammond smiled.

She has to get very near the pictures and her work, utilizing highly effective magnifying glasses to convey the pets to life utilizing chalk.

“I’ll end up with paint on my nose, chalk on my face,” Hammond stated.

There are some particulars she must have described to her.

“I’ll send them a message: ‘What colour are the eyes?’ I can never tell what colour the eyes are.”

But Hammond takes all of it in stride.

“It’s fun for me, and when someone appreciates it, that’s an even bigger bonus.”

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Her residence is sort of a miniature artwork gallery, the place her work traces each wall.

Farmers fields are depicted again and again.

“It’s so bright, it’s so yellow — I can see that. It just strikes me every time there’s a canola field. I think that’s my favourite thing to paint.”

She by no means used to inform prospects about her imaginative and prescient loss.

“Up until a year ago I’d say, I wouldn’t promote it like that. And then I thought, ‘Why not?’ It’s something most people wouldn’t even try.”

Now, she’s embracing it.

“Find what’s important to you and go for it. Don’t let anybody tell you you can’t do it, and don’t believe you can’t do it.

“There’s always a way. It might be different, but there’s always a way.”

Hammond’s artwork is all on the market, she could be reached at kimscott52@gmail.com.

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