Still not convinced that saying, "I can't draw" is foolish? Well then, let's look at another person,

Joni Eareckson.

A Step Further

      "In July 1967, when she was seventeen, Joni (pronounced Johnnie) Eareckson dove into Chesapeake Bay and broke her neck; since then she has been a quadriplegic, confined to life in a wheelchair. In her first book, Joni, she told the story of her accident and her subsequent struggle to accept her handicap. 
      As a result of that first book, Joni received thousands of letters from readers who identified with her bouts of depression, despair, and loneliness - letters from hurting people all over the world." (copyright 1978 by Joni Eareckson and Steve Estes)
      Joni puts a pencil in her mouth to draw. As you can see in the picture at right, her picture of the kittens is quite good. She drew it all with her mouth! Joni doesn't believe in the "I can't draw" syndrome either. She says her faith in God has helped her to overcome her paralysis.
      Information about Joni's artwork is available by writing: Joni and Friends, P.O. Box 3333, Agoura Hills, CA. 91376. You can find her books and prints sold on the internet. Joni still speaks across the nation and gives inspiration to many people.

 http://www.joniandfriends.org/store_category.php?category_id=3

      Do you still say you can't draw? Boy, you're a hard case. That means I'll have to introduce to you yet another person who never said that they couldn't draw.

Disabled Woman Paints

      Queenie Archer was 11 when her mother put her in a place for the mentally handicapped. She wasn't really handicapped, her arms and legs were crippled by cerebral palsy, a disease that slowly eats away your muscles. She had no visitors and wasn't even allowed to decorate her room. Instead of saying she couldn't do anything, she decided to make the best of her situation. She is now a 46-year-old woman.
      "Look at me," Queenie says. "I'm an artist. I'm in one of the best group homes in the area. I always got something to eat. I got my own room. I got all my earrings and my hair bows. I got my mom and my sister. Some people out there, they don't have anybody."
      Queenie now lives in Davie, Florida, in a cerebral palsy group home. After a lifetime of injustices, she still sees enough beauty in the world to paint pictures that sell for as much as $1,000 apiece. She paints with a brush sticking out of a contraption on her head.
      "I'm a survivor," she says, and grins. "A wild woman." Today she daydreamed that she would be working on her picture of cats in a field of irises.
      Each petal, each leaf, takes hours. A whole painting can take six or seven months. "It doesn't matter," Queenie says. "It could take me years. I never give up."
      You can see some art done by Queenie as well as other handicapped artists by visiting Amazing Artwork, a site by a company in Fort Lauderdale that employs handicapped artists.

http://adoptionworld.org/awi/personal/art/artdis1.htm

     Are you satisfied yet? Don't tell me you're still complaining about your drawing abilities! OK. Then I have another one for you. The next person I'm going to tell you about is Henri Matisse.

Matisse Does Art From His Wheelchair and Bed

      Henri Matisse was born on December 31, 1869 in France. He became a famous artist by the year 1900. By the age of 78, he became a cripple and had to remain in a wheel chair. He could barely move his fingers due to arthritis. That didn't stop him. As you see in the picture, Matisse began to cut out shapes from colored construction paper and had others glue them down for him to make a collage. He did this all from his wheelchair. Soon he became so lame that he was stuck in a bed. That didn't stop him either. When he painted one of his last paintings, he was rolled on his bed in the church.

      "I consider it my best piece of work. I hope that the future will justify this opinion by a growing interest," Matisse said before he died in 1954 at the age of 84. Even though he was old and crippled, he decided that nothing was going to stop him. Will anything stop you?

http://www.ibiblio.org/wm/paint/auth/matisse/

Here's someone who uses her feet to paint:

According to the AMFPA, Maria del Pilar Benitez Velozo was born without her lower arms. One of her legs was also irreversibly damaged. From childhood on she has learned how to use her feet to be more independent. At the age of five she learned how to sew and knit, later she also learned how to weave and make small craft objects. Her love for the arts became obvious at a very young age and she was further motivated by the lessons she received in sixth grade. After that she took up a correspondence course in drawing and oil painting.

     She wishes to tell people how they can develop to their full potential, and so she visits schools, talks to students and teachers and demonstrates to them how she paints or knits. She has had numerous exhibitions both in Argentina and internationally, where she received several awards and distinctions for her works.

http://www.amfpa.com/html/show.php?appl=KUENSTLER&lang=2&mid=830&i_artist=5102&dolog=1

      OK guys, if you still say "I can't," then you are hopeless. You are doomed to a life of boredom because you don't want to risk anything to improve yourself. We've seen several people who didn't let anything keep them from their art. There are many more like them. It's quite simple. You are able to draw and if you say, "I can't," you are too lazy or have no confidence in yourself.

Ken Rohrer

Disabled Artists Links

Pet Peeves

Copyright © 2007, Ken Rohrer and Judy Decker

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