Danita Cole Encaustic Fine Art

Danita Cole

Charleston, SC - United States

I am a professional Encaustic fine artist and painter for the blind and am promoting a trip across the country this summer to teach the blind how to read art using touch and to create art through touch. Would you consider forwarding this message to any one or group you think may be interested in us visiting? Please read further for more info:

What I do for the blind is offer a way to experience, through touch, the concept of art. Following the swell and flow of a wave series rushing towards an island from the percpective of standing on the deck of a boat offshore, for instance, is something my son has never felt through touch. The concept of the horizon was lost on him until he felt the relationship of an island to the clouds and sea. He understood how things get smaller as they get further away by feeling how small the trees on the island were in comparison with the scale of the clouds and ocean.
When I paint with pure bees wax mixed with pigment, I can take a canvas that is 8' x 48' and put a line horizontally though it. Then I build up the sky with thick wax, heat it up with a blow torch and blow onto the wax, which fans out softly from the center and looks just like a cloud and feels like a small, ridged and cracked group of gentle, tactile explosions! Then I lay my iron on it's side for the islands. Then I will take the same iron and gently create waves of the ocean across the whole bottom of the painting, in soft, gentle swells that ebb and flow, interrupted only by the small island on the horizon.
Because the wax is so tactile and resilient to constant, gentle touch, it made a perfect match to me, for the blind. My son has Retinopathy of Prematurity and we marvel everyday at the ways we have been blessed.
This summer we are attending the summer camp at Dogwood in Sherrills Ford, NC.July 22 - 28. We are trading a week at the camp in return for teaching a two hour class every day. Ms. Susan King is paying for our expenses for the week to teach 15-20 students for two hours a day, so that we can show the blind/Vi how to paint with bees wax and other materials. Each student will create several tactile paintings to take home. Dalton, my son, is coming with me, along with our service dog, Orsina. Our hope is to help give the gift of art to those who are also blind.
We know that a person has to make their own choice about how they will deal with their blindness. Dalton is a happy seven year old child that is outgoing and affectionate. He has a belly laugh that will make even the most jaded person smile, and he finds joy in finding things to find funny! We endeavour only give the spark of hope and living proof that all is not lost when a sense is lost.
If you think we can be of service to you over this summer please let us know. We could make a trip to your city to teach or demonstrate to your group. We will be travelling this summer, giving classes to the blind, promoting an exhibition that will take a tactile exhibit to hosting Museums in several cities across the country utilizing an exhibition that is no longer on display at the Gibbes Museum here in Charleston. We are also working on a DVD that will help guide dog teams protect themselves from stray dog attacks and I am approaching Galleries for representation of my artwork in cities that we visit. I will be funding our trip by giving classes to local art guild members in the cities that we visit, as well as non-profit classes to the blind. Our goal is to meet our peers, teach both blind and sighted artists and budding artists how to paint with Encaustics, promote art for the blind and obtain gallery representation so that we can continue our work with the blind. We are not looking to make a profit, only to fund our journey to the next group of eager students!
If you think of another group that would like us to visit this summer, please consider passing on our information. So far our itinerary includes Dallas, TX for the NFB Convention, NC, VA, DC, Boston, Maine, Il, Mn with possible dates in Washington State and Oregon to be confirmed.
Here's hoping we get to meet in the very near future.
Danita Cole
www.danitacole.com

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