Eyesight

Insight, 2009, 9"x12"

When I was 2 years old I got glasses. I was diagnosed with farsightedness and I had (still have) a lazy eye. In my first year of highschool I got contacts. I got kind of slack in caring for my contacts and got tired of wearing them. By college I wasn't wearing anything. My vision was always fine without glasses. I only ever noticed my "lazy" eye getting lazy or tired when I had been doing art for long stretches of time

My daughter now has the same issue as I had and got glasses when she was not quite 3 years old. It's been a bit of a struggle getting her to keep them on because she can see without them and they get in her way! (My mom recalls having the same difficulty when I was young!!) I have just gotten glasses (again) too . I've realized how important it is to have them. In the last 9 months or so I have had more opportunity to work on my art and this, I think, has made me feel more of a strain on my eye. And, with age, my vision is begining to deteriorate some. I've been having trouble focusing my eyes and I'm sure that this has affected how my images look. There is a lot going on in my watercolors. I often use bold lines and mandala-like formats to contain everything. In my latest painting, the shape of an eye seemed to emerge quite naturally. I immediately felt the connection between my strained eye and the image.

And the struggle goes on: I don't feel completely happy with the prescription for my glasses!