The Gift of Sight

Photo by J.P. Prado

The "Gift of Sight" is a grace from God that most of us take for granted. Yet as visual artists it is the most important tool we have aside from our imagination (mind).

We must always be grateful for this ability, for it it through this faculty that we perceive our realities as well as express them.  Can you even contemplate the irony of Beethoven and his hearing loss?  Blindness is a tragedy of horrific proportions to me... It is actually similar to dying.

I had a brush with both this year -- death and blindness.  I could have died if I was not rushed to the hospital on time and I could have been blind twice... one if I had major brain damage due to my Stroke... second, if the tube they inserted for the ventriculostomy pierced the wrong section of my brain. (see http://atommagadia.blogspot.com/2010_08_01_archive.html)

Val Kilmer in "At First Sight"

I just watched "At First Sight" on HBO about an hour ago and it made me think of how lucky I am that I can still see and that my brain is somehow intact (at least as far as I could tell).

It is unfortunate that the movie bombed in the boxoffice (just earning 1/3 of its budget) and that most people generally thought that the movie 'sucked,' thinking that it was nothing but "a tutti-frutti love story where Val Kilmer played a blind guy. Nevermind that it was actually based on a true story and that the movie somehow depicted the internal conflicts of a real life blind person. Without the pyro-technics and the gratuitous violence, it has somehow failed to capture the audiences' imagination.

But the film touched me deeply, none the less. Probably because I am now fully aware of what I might have lost.

My 'visual' journal/notebook

I started a visual journal/notebook like the ones I blogged about (see http://atommagadia.blogspot.com/2010/12/drawing-for-drawings-sake.html). Aside from depicting my day to day experiences, I also record my thoughts, observations, poems, songs, photos and artifacts from my daily life.  The most revealing thing that the journal has shown me so far is that I can still draw with my right hand -- an ability I thought I lost after my Stroke.

I now thank God everyday for the wonderful gift of Sight, and the even more precious gift of Life. Never take anything you have forgranted, because life is fragile and it can easily be lost.

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYBODY!  I will see you all again in the New Year.

--"At First Sight" movie still property of MGM.

My New Hobby

Atom and his guitars

I haven't been doing a lot of photography eversince I was discharged from the Hospital for my stroke. But I have not been idle either.  Aside from writing and physical therapy (and constantly visiting doctors), I have been learning to play the guitar.

My cameras have been banned, so I had to find a new way to amuse myself.  Unknown to a lot of people, I used to sing (in contests and in the Glee Club) a lot during my High School years but I never learned to play an instrument (I was too distracted by my camera). Without my work and my beloved cigars, I have been antsy.  So forbidden any 'wine and women' (they come with the photography:-)), I guess all that's left is 'song.'

I have always wanted to learn the guitar, but I never had the time or the discipline.  I finally got both (the discipline came with the desire to be able to use my right arm and leg again).  Besides, according to my doctors, guitar playing is not only helping my right hand/arm, but my brain to regenerate as well.

As you can see, I have amassed quite a collection in such a short time... Beware all Obsessive/Compulsives, this hobby is addicting just like photography.  I am learning Rock (Metal/New), Blues, Flamengco and Classical guitar all at the same time:-)  My doctors probably wired my brain wrong after all!

Christmas came early for me -- I was able to purchase a fantastic "Killer Brand bass guitar" (trance blue) yesterday for half the price in the RJ Guitar yearly sale.

So far I have two Fender Stratocasters, a cherry-burst Les Paul, a Fender Catalina (Dreadnought), a blood-red classical (nylon), a Davis accoustic (bowl back), a philippine-made guitarlele and the Killer bass. I promised myself not to buy anymore, but you'll never know... It's like answering the question, "how many cameras  does a photographer really need?" 

Well, that really depends on the photographer... or the musician in this case.  It's a good thing I am scheduled to shoot again after the New Year or I might just change my career soon!

--shot with a Leica D-Lux 3.

Drawing for Drawing's Sake

I have always been facinated with the 'interior lives' of Artists and the processes by which it contributes to their 'Art.'  Danny Gregory's book, "An Illustrated Life," gives us a unique glimpse into Creativity and the creative process through the personal sketchbooks and illustrated journals of Visual Artists, Illustrators and Designers.

This book is 'eye-candy' for the visual connoisseur. It includes more than three dozen hardcore sketchbook fanatics, including comicbook illustrator Robert Crumb.

According to Gregory, "the approach is a varied as the lives the pages record. Some journal keepers are methodical... Others are wildly improvisational... " "A sketchbook is a great, nonthreatening place to begin to draw.  It is also an ideal place to develop ideas, experiment and break away from restrictions imposed by our increasingly digital workspace."

Before I studied how to make Films, I first learned Photography... My love of photography was initially sparked by my childhood doodling and facination with creating images.  I believe that all visual artists can benefit from sketching and keeping visual journals, because it cultivates our 'ways of seeing.'  These personal diaries can become mirrors into our deepest creative wells... a treasure chest for our own brand of art. 

Bryce Wymer, Illustrator/Designer Broadcast/Motion Design - "Of all my many works, my visual journals have the strongest purpose and are the truest form of Art. They are the few places where my thoughts are expressed solely for my own expectations, a vehicle for self-exploration..."

Butch Belair, Freelance Photographer/3D Illustrator - "Representing the quality of the light in a scene is something I struggle with... I find myself drawing, just to be drawing, in and of itself. I have no expectations of it other than as a way to unwind and possibly learn."