BRAILLE ART!

The Art Inspiration

20 years ago, my brother suffered from a massive brain hemorrhage which, among other things, has left him without his sight. My brother's name is LeeCole. He has always taught me to be persistent, light hearted and to love myself. His artistic and basketball skills always inspired me growing up. Years after his brain hemorrhage, I asked myself... how can I create with him and for him? Now, 20 years and many, many experiences later, I have begun a painting series in response to creating pathways for accessibility in my art; because I feel that the visual arts should be accessible to everyone.

My brother has often described to me and shown me how his sense of touch, along with his other four primary senses, work as his sight. I took this knowledge and in November of 2020 began creating oil paintings on the pages of The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990. I purchased this book from http://www.braillebookstore.com. This book is offered in the Original or Unified English Braille and has 139 pages.

The Three reasons I choose The ADA of 1990

1.The POWER of the text: The ADA is one of America's

most comprehensive pieces of civil rights legislation that prohibits discrimination and guarantees that people with disabilities have the same opportunities as everyone else to participate in the mainstream of American life.

2. The ACCESSIBILITY to touching visual art. These tactile paintings feed our most neglected sense in a digital world that focuses aggressively on visual and audio stimulation.

3. The OPPORTUNITY for education and conversation. In 2021 the US celebrated the 31st anniversary of the ADA and the fight for disability rights continues. Looking back at what was, what is and what can be, starts with education and conversation. That is why I wanted The ADA of 1990 text as the surface for this series.

Here is the breakdown of each painting in this Braille Art Series

ADA PAGE 137 ADA PAGE 131

-Oil on braille paper (front side of each page)

-11"x11"

-(c) 2020

-10% of the sale of each piece is donated to: Friends of the Library for the Blind and Print Disabled

-Each priced at $400.00

-All colors will be represented in this series🌈.

-All 139 pages will be completed in this series.

-Certificate of authenticity with each piece.

-You can contact me directly to customize your piece(s) and/or request a page number or numbers!

-Text translation upon request.

ADA PAGE 123 ADA PAGE 129

CONTACT ME DIRECTLY TO SUPPORT #FRIENDSINBRAILLEART SERIES | JILLWELLSART@GMAIL.COM