[Art_beyond_sight_learning_tools] Blind Images

[Lisa Yayla]

*http://www.sun-herald.com/NewsArchive2/062906/tp7ew3.htm?date=062906&story=tp7ew3.htm
Blind Images seizes new studio*

ENGLEWOOD -- Jeanne Cadman, an Englewood artist and owner of Blind 
Images, is legally blind, but when it came to finding an art studio, she 
knew the perfect place when she found it.

"It's behind Izzi's Antiques," Cadman said. "I have one of the cottages 
in the back. It's going to be a studio cottage and I'll have my art on 
display there. I'm trying to get open for July 1."

Cadman recently moved out of the Emporium on West Dearborn Street in 
Englewood, and has now set up shop at 30 Old Englewood Road in unit A.

Her new backdrop is Lemon Bay, and her studio is framed by majestic oak 
trees, behind Izzi's, which is occupying an old 1940s cracker home.

"It's so nice and so conducive to painting," Cadman said, "And the price 
was right. I can paint any place I want on the property."

Cadman said with her new move, however, she is making a distinct change 
in the running of her business.

"It will be a little different," she said. "I'm not going to take in 
other works."

Cadman said she'll still carry one artist's jewelry and hand puppets as 
she has traditionally offered in the past.

Other changes include painting all day and leaving the administrative 
duties at home.

"I got too involved in the business end of it," Cadman said. "It was a 
big distraction from painting. I need to concentrate on what I want to 
do. I need to paint with the eyesight I still have left."

While still in high school Cadman was diagnosed with retinitis 
pigmentosa, a hereditary eye disease that ultimately causes total and 
permanent blindness.

Her blindness, she said, caused her to become very depressed, and left 
her unemployed.

But through a program called "Rethinking Unemployment," a Division of 
Blind Services initiative, Cadman's drive returned.

And with her aspirations, Cadman took ownership of a small art gallery 
housed in the Emporium.

Cadman, who can only see a small portion of the canvas at a time, 
continues to be involved in fund raising efforts for other visually 
impaired related organizations.