[Art_beyond_sight_learning_tools] Blind children paint the world through feelings

[Shelley L. Rhodes]

Voice of Vietnam
Friday, June 03, 2005

Blind children paint the world through feelings

Arriving at the exhibition, I was so impressed by the beautiful paintings, 
which were mostly still life paintings such as a vase of colorful flowers, a 
tray of fruit, a cat, and a mother and child. There were also paintings of 
birds flying in the sky, children playing, green rice fields, an orchid and 
even a scene of the ocean. If I didn't see them drawing the pictures on the 
spot, I would not have believed that visually impaired children could 
perform such miracles. Luong Quoc Hung, 12, is visual impaired: "I'm drawing 
the deep blue ocean, where people are swimming. They are surrounded by fish, 
snails, and turtles. I use colours such as red, yellow, and blue."

13 years old Bui Tien Thanh's vision has gotten worsen in recent years, now 
he is drawing what he remembers of the surroundings. "I like drawing 
landscapes. A mountain is triangular and there are also the trees. 
Previously, I drew with wax pencils because I can feel the wax on the paper. 
Now I'm learning to draw with water colours."

Young Tran Ngoc Loan was born blind, so her paintings look abstract and 
surreal. "I am drawing a mother and child holding each other's hands on a 
walk. I like the colour orange, because I think it's very pretty and bright. 
I also like drawing landscapes, especially rice fields. I use green and 
yellow for rice fields, above which birds are flying in the sky."

This was the first time children from the Nguyen Dinh Chieu School Fort The 
Blind have exhibited their masterpieces to the public after five years of 
studying. The classes were started by Swedish ceramic artist, Elizabeth 
Person, who suffers from a vision problem and will be blind one day. Ms 
Person cooperated with painter Tham Duc Tu, who has taught children to paint 
for over 30 years, and opened a class for visually impaired and blind 
children. At first, many people doubted the feasibility of the painting 
class for blind children but it turned out to be a success. Painter Tu said 
the principle is to teach students how to draw with their mind and not their 
sight. "It's really a hard job to teach visual impaired children to paint, 
but it's not impossible. They are underprivileged in one sense, but more 
developed in other senses, such as their imagination, sense of feeling and 
hearing. Painting serves as a communication channel to help them balance 
their emotions. It's not necessary or impossible to teach them how to paint 
a specific object. I only guide them to express their feelings through 
sketches and colours."

Mr Tu has a teaching method that he calls "giving children a hand". Colours 
are arranged from hot to cool from left to right. Teachers explain to the 
children the basic principles of lay-out, using colours and back ground 
paper. Children draw on a special easel and its surface is depressed when it 
is pressed. They keep pencils in one hand, while the other hand touches 
lines imprinted on paper. At first they draw what they can touch such as a 
person, a cat, a flower, a tree, and then they capture scenery around them. 
Paintings by blind children seem to follow the abstract school as objects 
are tottering and hovering in a disorderly fashion. But the way they use 
color is impressive and expresses their inner-feelings and the way they 
imagine the world of their sub-conscience. A visitor to the exhibition 
shared her view and said "Paintings by visually impaired children touched me 
immensely. They draw what they feel of life around them. I agree with 
painter Tu's view that we should feel the emotion in these pieces and not 
try to see them."


http://www.vov.org.vn/2005_06_02/english/xahoi1.htm#Blindchildrenpainttheworldthroughfeelings


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