Olivia is a young Australian who is full energy and full of life. In May this year, Olivia received some devastating news; she was diagnosed with a rare and inoperable eye condition. She will be completely blind by the time she reaches her mid teens.
Her family decided that rather than wait for this to happen, they wanted to give her as many experiences as possible. A wish list of things to accomplish was created, to tackle the world and, literally, to see as much as possible prior to Olivia losing her sight. On that list, and close to the top, was a meeting with an incredible man John Bramblitt.
John is an artist from Texas and, as some of you may know, is also blind. John uses a method to paint incredible, vibrant art. He uses raised line drawings and textured paint. He’s the subject of the award winning documentary shorts “Line of Sight’ and “Bramblitt.” His work has received much recognition including the ‘Most Inspirational Video of 2008′ from YouTube and three Presidential Service Awards for his innovative art workshops.
They flew all the way to see him in his house in Texas and he showed Olivia the techniques he uses as a blind artist. “A 9 year old girl from Australia, reminded me of how important life was, and I hope I never forget,” John said. Bramblitt was relentless with the girl when they first met each other, and have seen hope on her, “Instead of curling up into a ball, that some of us will not blame her for, this girl instead and her family are taking in a world site tour. Where they are experiencing all its beautiful and different about the world, surrounding themselves with everything positive that our little blue world has to offer.”
John talks about his experience of teaching Olivia and how excited her family was to be shown how art can be created even without sight. “I showed Olivia how to paint without sight and how to harness that with her real sight dog, and most of all how the world without sight doesn’t mean that it is a world without color and joy”, John added.
“I was the one who really received the gift, meeting someone who is courageous, hopeful, and with such affectious laugh is not something I’m gonna forget”, John Bramblitt said.
